China

History

China's monetary history runs from cowrie shells and bronze tool-shaped money, through Qin unification under the banliang coin, the long-lived wuzhu and Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coins, the Song dynasty's jiaozi (the world's first official paper money), the Yuan dynasty's jiaochao (the world's first fiat paper currency), the Ming-Qing silver tael system, the Qing silver drain and Da-Qing Baochao notes, the 1935 fabi reform and its catastrophic hyperinflation collapse, to the People's Bank of China and the renminbi, electronic payment networks, and the e-CNY digital yuan — one of the world's most widely deployed live central bank digital currencies.