The People s Bank of China (PBC) issued the fifth series of RMB banknotes on October 1, 1999. During the five years thereafter, the PBC developed security features for each denomination and made the security features more machine-readable. On this basis, the PBC announced the issuance of the new version of the fifth series of RMB banknotes on August 31, 2005, known as the 2005 version of RMB banknotes. With more user-friendly security features, the 2005 version of the fifth series of RMB banknotes has been well-received and has been functioning well, accounting for over 97 percent of the total value of RMB banknotes in circulation. Since the issuance of 2005 version of the fifth series of RMB banknotes, the amount of fake banknotes seized has not been on the rise in tandem with the increase of banknotes in circulation. Financial institutions or public security organs have not seen abrupt increase of seized counterfeit banknotes, and the anti-counterfeit notes campaign at present is as stable as usual.
About Counterfeit Banknotes
Counterfeit banknotes, like the shadow of authentic currency, have been in existence since the birth of currency. Dying hard, banknotes counterfeiting has been a chronic problem encountered by countries around the world ever since currency came into being. Examples are ample. According to relevant official websites in the U.S., dollars counterfeited using digital technologies accounted for 55 percent of fake dollars in 2007 compared with less than 1 percent in 1995. The euro, hailed as the most secure currency worldwide, has incorporated the most advanced security technologies from all European countries, but the attempts to counterfeit the currency has never stopped. According to the data released by the European Central Bank on January 12, 2009, a total of 666,000 pieces of forged euros were seized in 2008, setting a record high since the euro was born.
The Chinese people have a preference of using cash, resulting in a huge amount of cash in circulation. According to rough calculation, RMB banknotes (coins) in circulation total 360 billion pieces and per capita RMB banknotes (coins) stand at 260 to 270 pieces. In contrast, in developed countries such as the U.S., Britain and Germany where non-cash means of payment are popular, per capita cash held by the general public is as few as 25 to 30 pieces. The sheer size of cash in circulation enhances the exposure to currency counterfeiting and there is a positive correlation between the amount of counterfeit currency and the total amount of cash in circulation. Against this backdrop, there is a counterfeit currency ecology comprised of mercenary forgers, who defy relevant laws and forge fake banknotes by every possible means, buyers who seek benefits against the law, transporters who go after petty gains and holders who knowingly use the fake money. In sum, the anti-fake money campaign in China requires arduous efforts.
On Anti-Fake Money Campaign
The anti-fake money campaign has never ceased since the birth of the RMB banknotes. Under the leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and with the support of the general public, relevant agencies have cooperated closely in the anti-fake money campaign, making progress in many aspects.
First, the working mechanism has been improved progressively. As the convener of the joint conference on cracking down on counterfeit currency under the State Council, the PBC has been playing the role of organizer and coordinator in fighting and preventing counterfeit currency, and has been improving the management of forged banknotes and the public education campaign on this subject. Under the umbrella of the joint conference mechanism, a similar mechanism has been established at the provincial, city and county levels, with a total of 1,964 anti-fake money joint conferences at local levels. Cross-regional cooperation mechanisms have also been set up in some provinces.
Second, earnest efforts have been made to crack down on crimes related to money counterfeiting, and positive results have been achieved in dedicated campaigns targeting the areas seriously affected by counterfeit currency-related crimes. Public security organs nationwide have striven to crack down on counterfeit currency-related crimes, paying special attention to money forging cases. Since 2004, thanks to the Autumn Wind Campaign, the Sharp Sword Campaign, the Lightening Campaign, the Chrysanthemum Dedicated Campaign and the 09 Action, a batch of key cases have been cracked and a large amount of fake money have been seized before they went into circulation. According to incomplete data, since 2006, public security organs have cracked 4411 cases, 80 of which involved more than one million yuan fake money. Forty-four counterfeiting mills have been cracked, with 1.54 billion yuan of fake banknotes seized and 6164 suspects arrested.
Third, public education campaigns have been delivered in an in-depth and consistent manner. The PBC and financial institutions have disseminated information concerning counterfeit currency widely in both urban and rural areas, in a way well received by the general public. In particular, since 2006, more than 100,000 anti-fake money education campaigns have been conducted nationwide, sending more than 100 million hand-outs, disseminating relevant information to more than 200 million people.
Fourth, the long-term mechanism on anti-fake currency education has been preliminarily established and has taken effects. At the beginning of 2007, the office of the anti-counterfeit currency joint conference proposed to establish within three years an education network in towns and villages with a population of more than 100 people. The network should be managed by dedicated people at every level and in every village and should conduct outreach activities on a regular basis. As for urban areas, the education network is mainly based in key communities, aiming to provide effective information dissemination, timely feedback and effective prevention. Good results have been achieved. According to incomplete statistics, by end-2008, more than 14,000 outlets in the network of anti-fake banknotes have been set up in urban areas with 15,000 volunteers, and 384,000 outlets have been set up in rural areas with 386,000 volunteers.
Fifth, training programs on counter-fake money skills have been carried out and a well-structured working team has been gradually established. In recent years, 37 national training courses on anti-fake money have been provided by the PBC Headquarters alone, training nearly 5,000 relevant officials. Attaching great importance to training tellers on anti-fake money skills, financial institutions have improved the training mechanism to enhance staff s competence of identifying and dealing with counterfeit currency.
Sixth, the printing techniques and security features of RMB banknotes have been improved. The current fifth series of RMB banknotes boasts improved application of traditional and modern security technologies as well as new machine-readable security features that are hard to be counterfeited. Compared with the fourth series of RMB, the fifth series enjoys greatly improved security features and, the 2005 version is better than the 1999 version in both printing quality and security features.
Fake notes can be identified against security features of the authentic ones
In the past 60 years since the first case of counterfeit RMB banknotes was cracked in June 1949, criminals have adopted various methods to manufacture and sell faked banknotes; therefore, there is a large variety of fake banknotes with distinctive features. In general, counterfeit banknotes can be divided into forged banknotes and altered banknotes. Forged banknotes refer to those notes manufactured, copied, brass-rubbed, hand depicted or hand engraved based on the design, specifications, shape and colors of the authentic notes. Altered banknotes refer to those notes that are made by cutting, ripping, painting, patching, pasting and reprinting. There are several ways to identify counterfeit banknotes:
1.Observe the watermarks. The watermarks of the authentic notes are formed during printing and are three-dimensional. On the contrary, the watermarks of fake notes are neither legible nor three-dimensional, simply made by either printing the watermark design on the obverse or reserve side of the notes, or by inserting a piece of watermarked paper between the two layers of the notes.
2.Check the security thread. The micro letter printing on the security thread of the fifth series of RMB banknotes is clear, complete and magnetic. On the contrary, a gray or black strip is printed on both sides of the security thread on some fake notes, and the micro letter printing is blurry and not magnetic. Some fake notes have a plastic thread with letters printed on it, but not magnetic. Some fake notes use silver gray printing ink on the reverse side of the two layers of the printing paper, and the micro letters are illegible and not magnetic. In some fake notes, the security thread resembles the window security thread on the authentic notes made by inserting the two ends of the plastic thread into the inner layer of the paper. If observed carefully, cracks can be found on the surface of the note.
3.Observe the security fiber. Colored fiber and colorless fluorescent fiber, embedded into the notes during the printing process, is stochastically distributed. Colorless fluorescent fiber of the fake banknotes is forged by printing, and looks quite different from the fluorescence of the authentic notes. Colored fiber and colorless fluorescent fiber on the surface of the authentic notes can be picked out with a needle, but that on faked notes cannot.
4.Observe the offset see-through pattern. The see-through pattern on the authentic notes is printed on both sides simultaneously, and when observed against the light, the pattern on both sides completely overlap and form the shape of an ancient Chinese coin (round shape with a square in the middle). However, the see-through pattern on the fake notes does not overlap well due to different printing techniques.
5.Observe the latent image denomination. The latent image denomination on the authentic notes is made by engraved offset printing, and the raised oil print lines are refractive in light. Therefore, the latent image denomination on the authentic notes is invisible when looked down upon. But the image can be observed by swaying the note slightly against the light or by seeing parallel to the note and swaying the note by 45 degrees. The denomination on the fake notes can be observed from any angle without latent effects.
6.Observe the optically variable ink (OVI) denomination. The 100-Yuan and 50-Yuan banknotes of the 5th version have intaglio OVI denomination, which can be felt by hands. In addition, the denomination s color changes between green and blue or between golden and green. Single-color oil offset printing is used sometimes to counterfeit banknotes, and they do not have intaglio effects or colors don t change. Some criminals use pearlescent or metalescent print ink to add dimming effects to denomination but still fail to produce color change effect.
7.Feel the intaglio pattern or characters. On the authentic notes, intaglio printing is a security feature used in several parts of the notes, including the Chinese characters for "People s Bank of China", the denomination number, the collar of the portrait, the Braille denomination mark, the intaglio tactile lines and etc. In most fake notes, flat-panel printing is used, so fake notes are usually not concavo-convex. In order to create such an effect, criminals use pins to press against the reverse side of the fake notes, but this can be easily found out by observing the reserve side of the notes.
8.Observe the lines of the pattern with a magnifier. The lines of the pattern, printed with dedicated printing plate, print oil, glue and concavo-convex printing machines, are clear and refined. Four-color network printing is generally used to manufacture fake notes, whose lines of the pattern are networks in red, yellow, blue and black. Occasionally, fakes notes made of vector green printing are discovered, but their printing precision is no comparison to that of the authentic ones.
9.Check the fluorescent feature with violet light. The paper used for authentic notes is copy made by special raw materials and machines, no fluorescent agents are added. The paper looks dark against violet light, but the pattern and denomination number printed with fluorescent print ink look light. Most fake notes use ordinary paper made from wood or grass pulp with brightener added in it during the papermaking process. So the fluorescent feature is very bright under violet light, and the colors are different from the authentic ones.
10.Use a magnetic sensor to check for magnetism. The denomination number and the security thread are magnetic, readable by sorting and detecting machines, while most fake notes are not magnetic. Some criminals drop magnetic solution onto the above parts of the fake notes after printing. However, if checked with a magnetic detector, the shape and the magnetic flux are different from those of the authentic notes.
Fake notes starting with the alphabetic prefix of HD are not of high quality
Beginning this year, media reports about fake notes with the alphabetic prefix of HD caught attention. Some issues need to be clarified.
The so-called "high quality" counterfeits with the alphabetic prefix of HD, as other forged banknotes, are machine-fabricated offset fake notes and were detected in some regions as early as 2007. This batch of fake notes paper quality, watermark, security thread, OVI denomination and see-through pattern are distinctly different from those of the authentic banknotes. They can be identified easily with hands and the naked eye. Cash detectors and ATMs of commercial banks can also detect these counterfeits.
Upset by relevant news reports, some people simply assume that every banknote starting with the serial number of HD90 is fake. This assumption is not rational as there are authentic banknotes starting with the serial number of HD90 in circulation.
On media reports claiming that counterfeit banknotes have been withdrawn over a specific counter or from a specific ATM of a specific commercial bank, the PBC acted jointly with local public security organs, dispatched agencies of the China Banking Regulatory Commission and relevant commercial banks to have on-site investigation and found that the claim is not true. Recently, the police have discovered several cases in which some people attempted to exchange fake ones for authentic notes at banks. The Xinmin Evening News published on January 24, 2009 an article entitled Fake for Authentic Attempt Video Recorded. As a matter of fact, the PBC has urged its branch offices to improve the sorting of RMB banknotes, and commercial banks have standardized the receiving and paying-out of cash and have been dealing with counterfeit banknotes in line with the standard procedure. Meanwhile, the PBC has urged the commercial banks to improve monitoring equipment and upgrade the ATMs to identify counterfeits more effectively.
Every citizen has the responsibility to fight against fake banknotes. Adequate knowledge and skills as well as high vigilance are essential in the campaign against counterfeit notes. It is also suggested that the general public use more non-cash means of payment such as bankcards, which is more convenient and secure.
