I recently came across an interesting topic, and many people are actually confused about a basic concept—why do we use the renminbi daily, but internationally call it CNY instead of RMB? There's actually a lot of history and political economy behind this.

Let's start with the issue of the name. RMB is the pinyin abbreviation for renminbi, and it's recognized in our domestic laws and national standards. But internationally, it's uniformly called CNY—that's based on the international standard currency code ISO 4217. Simply put, RMB is our local name, while CNY is the globally recognized identifier.

Why does this distinction exist? We need to look back at history. After the reform and opening-up in 1978, we began integrating into the international system. By 1980, we officially joined the IMF as a member country. The IMF primarily operates in English and French, so each country's currency needs an English code. Following international conventions, the country’s abbreviation in English plus the first letter of the currency forms the code—China (C) plus Yuan (Y) makes CNY. This naming logic is the same for all countries: the US dollar is USD, the Japanese yen is JPY, and the euro is EUR.

Interestingly, this change reflects a larger process—the internationalization of the renminbi. From being circulated only domestically to gradually becoming an international reserve currency, this is not just a name change but a sign of our country's rising status in the global economy. After the 2008 US financial crisis, the absolute dominance of the dollar was shaken, and the renminbi truly gained opportunities on the international stage.

Currently, the renminbi accounts for less than one-tenth of global foreign exchange reserves, but the growth trend is clear. More and more countries are starting to use the renminbi for trade settlement, which reflects our economic strength and international influence. So next time you see CNY, don’t just think of it as a code; it’s actually a microcosm of our country’s economic opening process.