20 Fen / Cents

The Central Bank of China was established by the Nationalist government in 1928 as one of the "four big banks" intended to consolidate fiscal control under the Kuomintang. This 20 Fen fractional note appeared two years later, at a time when small-denomination coinage was chronically short in circulation — copper and nickel coins were being hoarded, melted, or simply failed to reach rural markets in sufficient quantities, pushing the demand for low-value paper substitutes.

ABNC's involvement was typical for Chinese government printing contracts of the period; the Republic consistently turned to foreign security printers rather than develop sufficient domestic capacity.