50 Fen Foreign Exchange Certificate

China's Foreign Exchange Certificates were introduced in 1979 as a parallel currency — foreigners were required to exchange hard currency for FECs rather than receive renminbi, effectively creating a two-tier monetary system. The FEC could purchase imported goods and access services at Friendship Stores and tourist hotels that were off-limits to ordinary citizens holding standard RMB.

This created an immediate black market. FECs consistently traded at a premium to RMB, sometimes reaching 150% of face value on the street. The system was abolished in 1994, and unspent certificates could theoretically be reconverted — but most surviving low-denomination notes like this one were simply pocketed as curiosities by departing tourists.