Renminbi vs. Yuan
Sometime in the past year the Times’ writers seemed to switch from ‘yuan’ to ‘renminbi’ when referring to China’s currency. I apparently haven’t been the only one confused. Paul Krugman explains:
I sometimes think that the whole renminbi/yuan issue is a sinister plot by the Chinese designed specifically to deter people from discussing Chinese currency policy. (Note to literalist readers: that’s a joke).
So: renminbi is the name of China’s currency; but yuan is the denomination of bills, the unit in which prices are measured, etc.. The closest parallel I can think of is Britain’s currency, which is sterling, but whose unit is the pound.
