20 Yuan Beijing Winter Olympics

China's first polymer banknote for general circulation, issued specifically to commemorate the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The People's Bank had produced polymer commemoratives before, but this was a notable step — polymer substrate had long been resisted by Chinese monetary authorities despite its adoption by dozens of other countries over the preceding three decades.

The transparent window, standard on polymer issues elsewhere, required China Banknote Printing and Minting to adapt production processes it had not previously deployed at this scale for circulating currency. Whether this note signals a broader shift toward polymer in China's general issue programme remains an open question.