The smallest unit of the Chinese renminbi is the fen. One yuan equals 10 jiao, and one jiao equals 10 fen, making one yuan equal to 100 fen.
Renminbi means “people’s currency,” while yuan is the principal unit used in prices and everyday speech. The People’s Bank of China issues the renminbi, which became the official currency of the People’s Republic of China in 1948.
Fen denominations exist in the currency system, but their practical use has declined sharply because of inflation and changing prices. Jiao is also uncommon in some everyday cash transactions, although both units remain part of the formal decimal structure.
A frequent terminology mix-up is treating renminbi and yuan as exact synonyms. Renminbi is the name of the currency, while yuan is its main unit, much as sterling is the currency and pound is its principal unit.