(Promulgated by the Order No. 280 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on February 3, 2000; revised in accordance with the Decision of the State Council on Amending Some Administrative Regulations on July 29, 2014; and amended in accordance with the Decision of the State Council to Amend and Repeal Certain Administrative Regulations on March 19, 2018)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 For the purpose of strengthening the administration of Renminbi (RMB), maintaining the credit standing of RMB and stabilizing the financial order, this Regulation is formulated in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the People's Bank of China .
Article 2 The term “Renminbi” as mentioned in this Regulation refers to the currency issued by the People's Bank of China, including paper notes and coins.
Those engaged in designing, printing, issuing, circulating and retrieving RMB notes shall abide by this Regulation.
Article 3 The legal money of the People's Republic of China shall be RMB. No entity or individual may reject the RMB payment for any public or private debt within the territory of the People's Republic of China.
Article 4 The unit of RMB shall be Yuan, the units of fractional currency of RMB shall be Jiao and Fen. 1 Yuan is equal to 10 Jiao and 1 Jiao to 10 Fen.
RMB notes shall be paid according to its par value.
Article 5 The People's Bank of China shall be the competent authority of the state for the administration of RMB, which shall be responsible for organizing the implementation of this Regulation.
Article 6 All entities and individuals shall treasure RMB notes. It is forbidden to damage RMB notes or to hamper its circulation.
Chapter II Designing and Printing
Article 7 The design of a new edition of RMB notes shall be organized by the People's Bank of China, which shall be subject to approval of the State Council.
Article 8 The RMB notes shall be printed by a special enterprise designated by the People's Bank of China.
Article 9 The RMB printing enterprise shall print RMB notes according to the quality standards on RMB notes and the printing plan as formulated by the People's Bank of China.
Article 10 The printing enterprises of RMB notes shall deliver all the good quality RMB products to the RMB issuing treasury of the People's Bank of China and destroy all the substandard RMB products according to the provisions of the People's Bank of China.
Article 11 After the use of the original printing plates or models ends, they shall be sealed up and preserved by the People's Bank of China.
Article 12 The special materials, technologies, techniques, special equipments and other important matters relating to the printing of RMB notes shall be state secrets. The printing enterprise of RMB notes and the relevant personnel shall keep them confidential. No entity or individual may offer such secrets to any other person without the approval of the People's Bank of China.
Article 13 Except for enterprises authorized by the People's Bank of China to print RMB, no entity or individual may make research, make, imitate, import, sell, purchase or use the anti-forgery materials, anti-forgery technologies, anti-forgery processes and special equipment exclusively used for the printing of RMB. The relevant administrative measures shall be separately developed by the People's Bank of China.
Article 14 The RMB specimen are standard samples to check the printing quality of RMB notes and to judge the genuineness of RMB notes, which shall be printed by the printing enterprises of RMB notes according to the provisions of the People's Bank of China. The specimen of RMB notes shall be stamped with a word “Specimen”.
Chapter III Issuance and Recovery
Article 15 The RMB notes shall be uniformly issued by the People's Bank of China.
Article 16 When the People's Bank of China intends to issue a new edition of RMB notes, it shall file an application with the State Council for approval.
The People's Bank of China shall announce the issuance time, par value, design, pattern, specifications, main color and main features of the new edition of RMB notes to the general public.
The People's Bank of China shall not deliver the new edition of RMB notes to the financial institutions before it makes an announcement about the new edition of RMB notes.
Article 17 If it is necessary to change any RMB printing material, technology or technique for the reason of anti-forgery or for any other reason, it shall be decided by the People's Bank of China.
The People's Bank of China shall announce the issuing time, par value and main features of the RMB after the change to the general public.
The People's Bank of China shall not deliver the redesigned RMB notes to the financial institutions before it makes an announcement about the redesigned RMB notes.
Article 18 The People's Bank of China may, in light of the needs, issue commemorative coins.
The commemorative coins are RMB coins issued in a limited quantity for a special theme, including general commemorative coins and noble metal commemorative coins.
Article 19 The theme, par value, design, drawing, material, pattern, specifications, issuance quantity, and issuance time of the commemorative coins shall be determined by the People's Bank of China, however, if the theme of the commemorative coins involves any important political or historical event, an application shall be submitted to the State Council for approval.
The People's Bank of China shall announce the theme, par value, design, drawing, material, pattern, specifications, issuance quantity, and issuance time of the commemorative coins to the general public.
The People's Bank of China shall not deliver the commemorative coins to the financial institutions before it makes an announcement about the issuance of commemorative coins.
Article 20 The People's Bank of China shall establish a RMB issuing treasury and set up branch treasuries in its branches to be responsible for keeping the RMB issuance fund. The director of the RMB issuing treasury at each level shall be assumed by the president of the People's Bank of China at the same level.
The RMB issuance fund shall be the RMB notes that have not entered into the circulation sector and are preserved by the RMB issuing treasury of the People's Bank of China.
The allocation and transfer of RMB issuance fund shall be governed by the provisions of the People's Bank of China. No entity or individual may improperly use the RMB issuance fund, or interfere with or impede the allocation and transfer of the RMB issuance fund.
Article 21 The termination of circulation of a special edition of RMB notes shall be subject to the approval of the State Council and shall be announced by the People's Bank of China.
The financial institutions engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB shall, under the provisions of the People's Bank of China, recover and exchange the RMB notes that are stopped from circulation, and shall deliver them to the local People's Bank of China for preservation.
The People's Bank of China shall not deliver the RMB notes that are stopped from circulation to any financial institution. No financial institution may make payment in RMB notes that are stopped from circulation.
Article 22 A financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB shall, under the provisions of the People's Bank of China, gratuitously exchange the deformed or defiled RMB notes, sort out deformed and defiled RMB notes, and submit them to the People's Bank of China at the locality for keeping.
The People's Bank of China may not deliver any of the deformed or defiled RMB notes to any of the financial institutions, nor may the financial institutions make payments to any outsider with any deformed or defiled RMB notes.
Article 23 The RMB notes that are stopped from circulation and the deformed and defiled RMB notes shall be retrieved and destroyed by the People's Bank of China. The concrete measures shall be formulated by the People's Bank of China.
Chapter IV Circulation and Protection
Article 24 A financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB shall, in accordance with the principle of satisfying reasonable demands, adjust the types of RMB notes.
Article 25 It is forbidden to buy and sell RMB notes under circulation.
The purchase and sale of commemorative coins shall be in line with the relevant provisions of the People's Bank of China.
Article 26 The following acts of damaging RMB notes are forbidden:
(1)Willfully damaging RMB notes;
(2)Making, imitating, buying or selling RMB patterns;
(3)Without the approval of the People's Bank of China, using the design of a RMB note on any publicity product, publication or any other commodity; and
(4)Other acts damaging the RMB notes as specified by the People's Bank of China.
The “design of a RMB note” as mentioned in the preceding paragraph includes the design of a RMB note which is enlarged, downsized or is of the same size as the original.
Article 27 The RMB specimens are forbidden to be circulated.
The measures for the administration of RMB specimens shall be formulated by the People's Bank of China.
Article 28 No entity or individual may print or sell RMB substitutes for circulation in the market to take the place of RMB notes.
Article 29 The RMB carried by Chinese citizens and foreigners entering and exiting China shall be subject to amount control. The concrete limits on the amount shall be prescribed by the People's Bank of China.
Article 30 It is forbidden to forge or alter RMB notes. It is forbidden to sell or purchase any counterfeit or altered RMB notes. It is forbidden to smuggle, transport, hold or use any counterfeit or altered RMB notes.
Article 31 Where any entity or individual holds any counterfeit or altered RMB notes, it (he) shall timely hand them over to the People's Bank of China, public security organ, or to a financial institution engaging in the business of depositing or drawing RMB. Anyone who finds any holder of counterfeited or altered RMB notes shall report it to public security organ without delay.
Article 32 If the People's Bank of China or public security organ finds any counterfeit or altered RMB notes, it shall confiscate them, stamp the words “Counterfeit Currency” on them and prepare a register. If the holder raises any objection to the genuineness of the confiscated RMB notes, it (he) may file an application with the People's Bank of China for authentication.
The public security organ shall hand over the counterfeit or altered RMB notes it has confiscated to the local People's Bank of China.
Article 33 Where a financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB finds any counterfeit or altered RMB notes, if the quantity of the counterfeit or altered RMB notes is relatively large, and if any of the counterfeit RMB notes are of a new edition or finds any other clues of the manufacture and sale of the counterfeit or altered RMB notes, it shall make a report to the public security organ without delay; if the quantity of counterfeit or altered RMB notes is relatively small, the counterfeit or altered RMB notes shall be confiscated at the presence of 2 or more functionaries of this financial institution, shall be stamped with the words “Counterfeit Currency” and shall be registered, and the holder shall be issued a confiscation voucher uniformly printed by the People's Bank of China and shall be informed that it (he) may file an application with the People's Bank of China or with the business department of a solely state-owned commercial bank authorized by the People's Bank of China for authentication. The specific measures for the confiscation and authentication of counterfeit or altered RMB notes shall be formulated by the People's Bank of China.
A financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB shall hand over counterfeit or altered RMB notes it has confiscated to the local People's Bank of China.
Article 34 The People's Bank of China and its authorized business departments of the solely state-owned commercial banks shall gratuitously provide the service of authenticating the genuineness of RMB notes.
Where a RMB note with of the stamped words “Counterfeit Currency” is authenticated as genuine, it shall be exchanged by the People's Bank of China or its authorized business department of the solely state-owned commercial bank according to the par value. If it is authenticated as counterfeit, it shall be confiscated by the People's Bank of China or its authorized business department of the solely state-owned commercial bank.
The business department of the solely state-owned commercial bank authorized by the People's Bank of China shall hand over counterfeit or altered RMB notes it has confiscated to the local People's Bank of China.
Article 35 A financial institution engaging in business of depositing and drawing RMB shall take effective measures to prevent any payment in counterfeit or altered RMB notes.
A financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB shall, at its business site, gratuitously provide the service of authenticating the genuineness of RMB notes.
Article 36 The counterfeit and altered RMB notes shall all be destroyed by the People's Bank of China.
Article 37 The RMB anti-forgery authentication instruments shall be manufactured under the national standards.
The People's Bank of China shall, jointly with the relevant departments, formulate the national standards on RMB anti-forgery authentication instruments and shall help the organization of the implementation of these national standards.
Article 38 Where a RMB note is under any of the following circumstances, it shall not be circulated:
(1)It is a deformed or defiled RMB note that can not be exchanged; or
(2)It is a RMB note that is stopped from circulation.
Chapter V Punishment Provisions
Article 39 Where any printing enterprise of RMB notes or any relevant person is under any of the following circumstances, it (he) shall be given a warning by the People's Bank of China, its (his) illegal proceeds shall, if any, be confiscated, and it (he) shall be fined not less than 1 time but not more than 3 times the illegal proceeds. If there are no illegal proceeds, it (he) shall be fined not less than 10, 000 yuan but not more than 100, 000 yuan. The directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given a disciplinary sanction:
(1)Failing to print RMB notes under the RMB quality standards and printing plan as formulated by the People's Bank of China;
(2)Failing to deliver all the qualified RMB products to the RMB issuing treasury of the People's Bank of China;
(3)Failing to destroy all the sub-standard RMB products under the provisions of the People's Bank of China; or
(4)Without approval of the People's Bank of China, illegally providing others with any state secret relating to the special material, technology, technique or special equipment for printing RMB.
Article 40 Where any entity or individual violates Article 13 of this Regulation, the administrative organ for industry and commerce and other relevant administrative law enforcement organs shall give it (him) a warning, confiscate its (his) illegal proceeds and unlawful property and give it (him) a fine of not less than 1 time but not more than 3 times the illegal proceeds. If there are no illegal proceeds, it (he) shall be fined not less than 20, 000 but not more than 200, 000 yuan.
Article 41 Where any financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB violates the second paragraph and the third paragraph of Article 21 and Article 22 of this Regulation, it shall be given a warning by the People's Bank of China and shall be fined not less than 1, 000 yuan but not more than 5, 000 yuan. The directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given a disciplinary sanction.
Article 42 Anyone who willfully damages RMB notes shall be given a warning by the public security organ and shall be fined up to 10, 000 yuan.
Article 43 Where Article 25 or paragraph 1 (2) or (4) of Article 26 of this Regulation is violated, the administrative organ for industry and commerce and other relevant administrative law enforcement organs shall give it (him) a warning, confiscate its (his) illegal proceeds and unlawful property, and give it (him) a fine of not less than 1 time but not more than 3 times the illegal proceeds. If there are no illegal proceeds, it (he) shall be fined not less than 1, 000 but not more than 50, 000 yuan.
The administrative organs for industry and commerce and other relevant administrative law enforcement organs shall destroy the illegally used RMB designs.
Article 44 Where any financial institution engaging in the business of depositing and drawing RMB or any business department of the solely state-owned commercial bank authorized by the People's Bank of China violates any of the provisions of Articles 33 through 35 of this Regulation, the People's Bank of China shall give it a warning, give it a fine of not less than 1, 000 yuan but not more than 50, 000 yuan and shall give a disciplinary sanction to the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons.
Article 45 If the People's Bank of China, public security organ or administrative organ for industry and commerce, or any of its functionaries violates the relevant provisions of this Regulation, the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given an administrative sanction pursuant to law.
Article 46 Any entity or individual who violates the third paragraph of Article 20, Item (3) of the first paragraph of Article 27 or Article 31 of this Regulation shall be punished in accordance with the Law of the People's Republic of China on the People's Bank of China . If it (he) violates Article 31 of this Regulation and if any crime is constituted, it (he) shall be subject to criminal liabilities.
Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions
Article 47 This Regulation shall come into force as of May 1, 2000.
