What is the difference between RMB and Yuan?

RMB stands for Renminbi which simply means “People’s currency” in Mandarin. It is the official name for the currency used in China. It is denoted as CNY. RNB was first issued in December 1948. Yuan is the main unit of currency in China. It is the name in which renminbi transactions are denominated.

Other units of RMB are Jiao and Fen. 1 Yuan equals 10 Jiao and 1 Yuan equals 100 Fens. Take for instance, in England “Pound Sterling” is the currency and “pounds” is the main unit of the currency. This is the same case of RMB and Yuan.

There is almost no difference between the two. The renminbi is also known as the official currency of China. If it were translated, it would mean, “people’s money.” The symbol of this is CNY or CNH if you are in Hong Kong. You will usually see it with the symbol ¥. There is only one slight difference between the renminbi and the yuan.

Take note that the renminbi is introduced as the people’s money while the yuan is considered to be a unit of the people’s money. Some people use these two terms interchangeably though, and people usually know what they mean.