This article provides practical English advice on pronouncing RMB and yuan, which are names used for the Chinese currency, and gives examples on how and when to use these names.
Background – Renminbi, RMB
The official name of China’s currency is the RMB, which is short for the pinyin spelling of “Renminbi.” In Mandarin, “Renmin” means people, and “bi” means currency. The word “Renminbi” means “people’s currency,” and is the official term for the currency of the People’s Republic of China (i.e. China).
Background – Yuan
In Mandarin, “yuan” is a term that is used as a unit of measure for currency.
How to Say RMB
Mandarin speakers commonly say “Renminbi” when referring to their currency in Mandarin, but when using English, both native and non-native Mandarin speakers commonly refer to the Chinese currency as RMB. RMB is pronounced by saying each individual English letter (i.e. RMB) without inserting pauses between the letters.
How to Say Yuan
The standard Mandarin pronunciation for yuan is very close to the pronunciation of “U.N,” which is the abbreviation for the United Nations. Yuan is pronounced by saying “U.N.” without inserting pauses between the letters. If pronouncing yuan is too difficult or doesn’t feel appropriate, the word RMB can safely be substituted for yuan without losing the sound of authoritativeness on the subject of China’s currency.
Practical Examples
The following section provides practical examples and explanations on when and how to use RMB and yuan. These examples come from an article published on the website of the People’s Bank of China. The People’s Bank of China is China’s central bank.
Examples:
“At end-September, outstanding RMB loans stood at 29.6 trillion yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 14.5 percent.”
RMB will no longer be pegged to the US dollar and the RMB exchange rate regime will be improved with greater flexibility.
Explanation:
RMB is the same type of word as “U.S. Dollar,” “Euro,” or “British Pound,” and so is used in the same fashion as the names of these and other currencies.
Examples:
“The RMB exchange rate remained stable. At end-September, the central parity of the RMB against the U.S. dollar was 6.8183 yuan per dollar.”
“The exchange rate of the US dollar against the RMB will be adjusted to 8.11 yuan per US dollar at the time of 19:00 hours of July 21, 2005.”
Explanation:
Yuan is a measure word, and indicates how many RMB will be exchanged per U.S. Dollar. In the two examples above, the word yuan can be replaced with the word RMB.
Note
In China, depending on location, in non-formal settings, the words RMB, yuan, or kuai (which is another measure word for currency) may be used interchangeably when describing amounts of money. In formal settings, however, RMB and yuan are used as described in the article above.
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Sources: The People’s Bank of China, Public Announcement of the People´s Bank of China on Reforming the RMB Exchange Rate Regime
