China’s currency is called "yuan" or "renminbi". The terms have slightly different usages. Renminbi means “People’s currency” and describes Chinese currency in general. The yuan is a unit of measure. A good way to think of the difference is "cash" versus "dollars".

When the yuan’s value is low, it reduces the prices of many products imported in the U.S. and other countries from China, which can be seen as positive by consumers. The biggest categories are computers, cell phones, apparel, and toys/sporting goods. Low import prices also minimize the threat of inflation.

One yuan is divided into 10 jiao or colloquially mao. One jiao is divided into 10 fen.

In Standard (Mandarin) Chinese, "yuán" literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round coin made of silver.

In informal contexts, the word is written with the simplified Chinese character (元), that literally means "beginning".

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