One of the most notable and influencial topics discussed by all of my family during CNY this year has been the availability of new high-quality counterfeit bills. China has great skill in duplicating things of all types - including electronics, dvds, shoes, bags, ect. Now it seems that someone has helped improve on counterfits that they have been passed into banks and atms. Anyone living in China deals with this issue everyday. There are fake 1 RMB coins all the way up to 50s being passed around in the population, but never at this rate and quality.
When talking to my Chinese uncle and his friends a couple of days ago, they hypothesised that the fake bills orginiated from Taiwan. They described it as a relentless competition between the mainland and taiwan. The goal is to access the others' financies and undermine the currency. They suggested that China has also done the same in Taiwan.
No matter what the origions are, it is still very intimidating to know that fake bills are so prevelent among the population. Friends in the banking industry who handle and count money everyday have also discussed the current situation and the different countermeasures the banks are trying to implement. However, when people depsoit the fake currency in the ATM, it is automatically recycled when others retreve money.
Here's a recent CNN report on the situation:
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2 comments:
Mike! I just went to your site earlier today to catch up, now that I'm living in Futian. It's funny that you posted about fakes, just tonight I was asking my friend when China will come out with something higher than a 100, and his response was "I hope not!" because of the likelihood of more fakes. Let's meet up for drink sometime if you're up for it. Serena
Since copying is deeply rooted in the Chinese culture..I guess it is expected to happen with money also.. I spend a couple of months in Beijing and they check every bill you spend, especially the 100 RMB ones. And taxidrivers don't even want to accept those. I understand the need of money..but I wonder if all this is really helping anyone(well, except for the maker of the fake bills I guess).
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