The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.

A yuán (元) is also known colloquially as a kuài (块 "lump", originally of silver). One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo (角) or colloquially máo (毛 "feather"). One jiǎo is divided into 10 fēn (分).

The symbol for the yuan (元) is also used to refer to the currency units of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, and is used to translate the currency unit dollar as well as some other currencies; for example, the US dollar

United States dollar

The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

 is called Měiyuán (美元), or American yuan, in Chinese, and the euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

 is called Oūyuán (欧元), or European yuan.