Pounds GBP to Chinese yuan CNY exchange rate

The Chinese yuan is the official currency of China, and no other currencies are traded locally. The name of the currency as a whole is renminbi, in the same way sterling is the name for the British currency.

The yuan is subdivided into 10 jiao, and 1 jiao can be divided into 10 fen, however latterly these are so small as to be virtually worthless. One yuan is worth roughly 10p.

Yuan banknotes are 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. The coins come in 1, 2 and 5 jiao. However, be careful. Remember that 1 jiao is not the equivalent of 1p as the yuan is divided into 10 jiao rather than 100.

So 1 jiao is 1/10 of a yuan (the same relationship as 10p to a pound). 5 jiao is ½ a yuan.

You will often hear yuan referred to colloquially as ‘kuai’. These are the same thing; something that costs 10 yuan costs 10 kuai (it’s the same as ‘pound’ and ‘quid’ in the UK).

Beware of counterfeit currency if you exchange notes in-country. It’s best to do so from an official bureau de change.

China is the only country to use Chinese yuan. The Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau both use their own currencies (the Hong Kong dollar and Macanese pataca respectively) while legally remaining Chinese jurisdictions.  

Buy your Chinese yuan (also called kuai) from Post Office either online or at your nearest participating branch. You can order online for collection in any of our 11,500 branches or home delivery. Or you can get a Travel Money Card.

Our Travel Money Card is a prepaid Mastercard® allowing you to spend, withdraw cash, make online purchases and pay using contactless, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Chinese yuan is one of 23 currencies you can load your card with to use anywhere you see the Mastercard® Acceptance Mark. It’s easy to manage your card, top up and even switch between currencies using our free Travel app.

The highest value yuan note is 100 yuan (CNY100), roughly equivalent to around £10. This is a low sum for a high-value banknote, especially relative to other currencies, so it is possible that you will end up with a large amount of cash on you. It can be a good idea to distribute your cash among your belongings to avoid having large amounts of money on you at any given time. It can also be helpful to have smaller denominations for little purchases, like taxi rides and food.

Yuan are divided into 10 jiao, and jiao are divided into 10 fen. Fen coins are rare and virtually worthless, so it is unlikely you’ll ever see the lowest denominations of fen during your stay.