50 Yuan Foreign Exchange Certificate

Foreign Exchange Certificates were introduced by the People's Republic of China in 1979 as a parallel currency — foreigners, overseas Chinese, and diplomats were required to exchange hard currency for FECs rather than renminbi, effectively creating a two-tier monetary system that kept foreign exchange centralized under state control. The 50 Yuan denomination sat near the top of the FEC range and was large enough that it rarely saw heavy daily transactional use among individual visitors.

A thriving black market eventually developed, with Chinese citizens paying premiums above face value to acquire FECs — they unlocked access to Friendship Stores and imported goods that renminbi simply could not buy. The system was abolished in 1994 as China moved toward a unified exchange rate, after which unspent certificates were theoretically redeemable but many were not. The 1979 series was the first issued, predating the later 1988 redesign.