New note completes China's currency upgrade

A new edition of the 5 yuan banknote of the fifth series of China's renminbi currency, or the yuan, will be launched on Thursday with new anti-counterfeiting features and better print quality.

The 2020 edition, which is worth 74 US cents, features the same portraits and color as the old one — a portrait of Mao Zedong on the front and Taishan Mountain on the back — and purple remains the main color.

Taishan Mountain is a UNESCO Natural and Cultural Heritage site in Shandong Province.

However, the new version has more advanced security features and better print quality to make it more durable and stain resistant than the 2005 version, according to a statement on the website of the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

New printing technology has been adopted for the note in that the same gravure printed numbers and patterns coincide on both sides of the bill. This is the first time this independently developed technology has been used for circulated banknotes in China.

Other anti-forgery features include a color shifting effect of the number “5” which means the color of the number changes between gold and green, with a light band rolling, when looked at from different angles.

The issue follows an upgrade in the 2019 edition that included new 50, 20, 10 and 1 yuan banknotes and 1 yuan, 0.5 yuan and 0.1 yuan coins. With the new 5 yuan bill, the upgrade of the fifth series of the renminbi is complete, the central bank said.

The fifth series of the renminbi was introduced in 1999.