CNY Chinese Yuan
Buy and sell Chinese Yuan in Sydney
Renminbi notes over our counter at Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000: yuan for the trip to China and A$ for the yuan you bring home, at live rates with 0% commission, Monday to Friday 9:30am to 5pm.
How to get your Chinese yuan
Three steps, one counter, no appointment and nothing charged on top.
Check today's CNY exchange rate
The calculator quotes the renminbi both ways at once: the yuan your Australian dollars buy today, and the A$ we pay for yuan notes you carry back.
Visit our store
Come up to Suite 202A, Level 2, 60 York Street, NSW 2000 - four minutes from Wynyard - or phone (02) 8014 4222 beforehand and the yuan will be counted and waiting.
Get your cash
You watch the notes counted, you are paid then and there, and unspent yuan come back to the same counter for A$.
Key information about the Chinese yuan
Renminbi or yuan, who prints it, the notes to expect and where it spends.
The renminbi, 'the people's currency', is the money of the People's Republic of China; the yuan is its unit, so a CN¥100 note is one hundred yuan. The People's Bank of China issues it; one yuan splits into 10 jiao or 100 fen. Since 2016 it has sat in the IMF's SDR basket with the dollar, euro, yen and pound.
Every yuan note is fifth series - CN¥1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100, each with Mao Zedong on the front - and in two looks: the 1999 and 2005 editions and the brighter 2015 to 2020 redesigns, both valid. The fourth series was withdrawn in 2018, so a yuan note showing anyone but Mao is out of date: refuse it.
Anyone buying Chinese yuan in Sydney ahead of a mainland trip will find the renminbi on our board among the 22 currencies we trade. Bring photo ID to the counter, or call first so the notes are set aside, and when the trip is over the yuan you did not spend sell back here at the live buy-back rate above.
Chinese Yuan details
- Currency
- Chinese Yuan
- Code
- CNY
- Symbol
- CN¥ (¥ or RMB inside China)
- Subunit
- 10 jiao, or 100 fen
- Central bank
- People's Bank of China
Chinese Yuan in use
- Banknotes
- CN¥1, CN¥5, CN¥10, CN¥20, CN¥50, CN¥100 (fifth series only - the 2015 to 2020 redesigns and the earlier 1999 and 2005 editions all circulate; the fourth series was withdrawn in 2018)
- Coins
- 1 jiao, 5 jiao and CN¥1 (fen coins remain legal tender but are almost never seen)
- Used in
- Mainland China
- Also used
- Not legal tender in Hong Kong or Macau, which keep their own dollar and pataca, though many tourist-facing shops there take CN¥100 notes at a rate of their own choosing
Expect every CN¥100 to be checked - tilt it and the big '100' changes colour - and carry CN¥10s and CN¥20s too: a stall paid by phone all day often has no change for a CN¥100.
Today's CNY exchange rate in Sydney
Our counter's AUD to CNY rate, live and in both directions - the price of yuan notes when you buy, and what we pay in A$ for the yuan you sell back. Every figure below is taken from the rate the calculator holds this minute.
Buying Chinese yuan in Sydney
A$1 = CN¥4.5254
Australian dollars across the counter, renminbi notes back.
- Nothing is charged beyond the rate itself - 0% commission, no fee, no margin added at the till
- Pay in cash; the counter is not taking card payments at present
- Ask for a share of CN¥10s, CN¥20s and CN¥50s alongside the CN¥100s - small vendors paid by QR code all day often cannot break a large note
Selling Chinese yuan back in Sydney
CN¥1 = A$0.2106
Bring the leftover yuan; leave with A$.
- Once you and the counter agree the count, the Australian dollars are paid to you straight away
- Notes need to be clean and whole - a torn, taped, written-on or badly worn yuan note may be turned down
- Bring fifth-series notes, the ones with Mao Zedong on the front: the fourth series was withdrawn in China in 2018 and can no longer be exchanged
Rates on this page are the counter's own and shift with the market through the trading day; the time shown on the calculator is the time both tables were priced, and whichever rate the counter confirms as you exchange is the rate that applies.
What things cost in China
Beijing and Shanghai prices to size a cash float, hotel not included - Xi'an and Chengdu run cheaper, and Golden Week in October and Spring Festival push everything up.
China travel money tips
Mainland China pays by phone, so plan the cash to fit around it.
Phone first, cash always in reserve
Mainland China runs on Alipay and WeChat Pay, and both now accept a foreign Visa or Mastercard, so set one up before you fly. Cash is still legal everywhere - since 1 February 2026 the central bank's rules oblige every shop to accept it - but many tills keep little change. Carry a modest float in CN¥10s, 20s and 50s for the moments the app fails: a dead phone, a code that will not scan, an older vendor who prefers notes.
Things to see in China
Imperial Beijing, the Bund, the Terracotta Army and Guilin's karst rivers - and a few yuan notes cover the temple gate and the dumpling stall the app misses.
Why exchange Chinese yuan with us
Buying renminbi for the trip out, or turning the leftover yuan back into A$ afterwards - one registered Sydney CBD counter does both at a live rate you can see.
0% commission, no fees on top
0% commission on the AUD to CNY rate, and no service or handling fee added once you are at the counter. The yuan the calculator shows for your Australian dollars is exactly what is counted out to you.
Live, timestamped counter rates
Both renminbi rates here - what you pay to buy and what we pay to buy back - are the counter's own, refreshed as the market moves through the trading day and marked with the time of the last change.
Registered, reviewed, guaranteed
AUSTRAC registered, ABN 18 675 798 302, with 59 public Google reviews averaging - and a written Best Price Guarantee standing behind every exchange.
Rated on Google by 59 customers
Every one of these was left on our Google profile by someone who came up to Level 2. We cannot edit them or take them down.
"Nice attention, customer service and good rate"
"Great people. Great rates. Great location. Sunil is the best."
"Thanks sunil. Great service and great rates"
"Pretty good rates, the place is clean and comfortable to wait in."
See what customers across Sydney say about our rates and service.
Read them all on Googlearrow_forwardCommon questions about Chinese yuan
For anything else about renminbi, (02) 8014 4222 reaches the counter on weekdays.
The calculator at the top of this page shows it both ways - the rate for buying yuan notes and the rate we pay for yuan sold back - updated through the trading day. The renminbi is a managed currency that trades within a daily band around a rate the People's Bank sets, so it moves less sharply than most, but it does move, and the rate confirmed at the counter is the one that counts.
Our counter is in Suite 202A on Level 2 at 60 York Street, NSW 2000, in the Sydney CBD - Wynyard station is about four minutes away on foot. Hours are Monday to Friday, 9:30am to 5pm, with no appointment needed; bring photo ID. To have the yuan counted and waiting, call (02) 8014 4222 before you set out.
The conversion table on this page answers that at the counter's live rate: A$1,000 sits in the buying table with the other common amounts, and all of them are recalculated whenever the calculator's rate changes during the day. Use it as today's guide; the exact figure is the one confirmed at the counter when you exchange.
No. The rate agreed at the counter is the whole price whether you are buying yuan or selling them back - 0% commission, no service fee and no handling charge added afterwards. Nothing is deducted at the till from the figure the calculator gives you.
Renminbi is one of the 22 currencies on our board, so on an ordinary weekday you can usually just walk in. For a larger sum, or if you want a particular spread of notes, phone (02) 8014 4222 first so it can be confirmed and put aside for you before you travel into the city.
A mix. CN¥100s are fine for hotels, restaurants and anything sizeable, but China's shift to phone payments means many small tills now hold very little change, so a stall or a taxi can struggle to break one. Ask for a good share of CN¥10s, CN¥20s and CN¥50s to spend at markets, on snacks and on short taxi rides. Whatever you receive should be fifth series, with Mao Zedong on the front.
We do, over the same counter, paying the live buy-back rate the calculator shows. The notes need to be in resaleable condition: a yuan note that is torn, taped, scribbled on or water-stained may be turned away, since each one we buy is sold on to the next traveller. Remember, too, that China caps the renminbi cash you may carry out at CN¥20,000 per person.
Yes. Since 1 February 2026 every business is required by the People's Bank of China's cash-service rules to accept renminbi notes, and refusing cash can be reported. Most people pay by scanning a QR code with Alipay or WeChat Pay, both of which take a foreign Visa or Mastercard, so set up one app before you fly and keep cash for the taxi, the market stall and the moment the phone lets you down.
You do - photo identification is needed whether you buy or sell. Australia's AML/CTF laws treat currency exchange as a regulated service, which obliges the counter to identify customers for certain transactions, so carry your ID into the store rather than leaving it at home.
Need a different currency?
Renminbi is just one line on a board of 22 currencies - open the full rate board for today's rates on all of them, buying and selling.
