70th Chinese Korean War Commemorative Banknote

Issued by the People's Bank of China to mark the 70th anniversary of China's entry into the Korean War — officially termed in Chinese historiography the "War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea" — this commemorative note was released on October 23, 2020, the precise anniversary of the People's Volunteer Army's crossing into Korea in 1950. It circulates as legal tender but was clearly engineered for the collector market from the outset, printed in limited quantities and sold through PBOC-designated channels in protective folders.

The framing of the war as a defensive anti-imperialist campaign remains politically significant in China; the 70th anniversary release coincided with a major state ceremony in Beijing and elevated media coverage, making this note as much a propaganda instrument as a numismatic one.