CNY to USD Exchange Rate

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Live CNY to USD Exchange Rate

CNY to USD Rate – Last 7 Days

CNY to USD Rate – Last 30 Days

CNY to USD Rate – 1 Year Trend

About CNY to USD

CNY/USD pairs two of the world's most heavily traded currencies, so the bid-ask spread on consumer-facing platforms is usually narrow and the rate moves smoothly through the trading day. Liquidity is highest during the overlap of London and New York hours; thin sessions can show slightly wider spreads even on a major pair.

Chinese Yuan is associated with Asia and US Dollar with North America, so each currency typically reacts to a different set of releases. CNY/USD therefore tends to move when something specific happens in either home market: an interest-rate decision, an inflation print, a trade-balance number, or a political event that changes the perceived risk of holding that currency.

What the rate above represents

The number shown in the rate box is a daily reference rate: roughly the mid-market price at the time the public rate feed was published. It is a useful benchmark, but it is not the rate you would obtain at a bank, a card terminal, an ATM, or a money-transfer provider. Those providers add a margin to the mid-market rate (the "spread") and may charge a fixed or percentage fee on top. To estimate what a real transaction would actually cost, take the displayed reference rate and apply the provider's published spread and fee.

How to read the historical tables and chart

The 7-day and 30-day tables show one observation per day. They are useful for sanity-checking an unusual reading on the live rate against very recent values and for spotting any obvious trend over the last month. The 12-month chart on this page is built from monthly samples and is intended to show the general direction of CNY/USD over a year rather than every short-term swing. For an intraday view of the same pair, the embedded chart further up the page draws on a finer-grained data source.

What typically moves CNY/USD

Like any exchange rate, CNY/USD reflects the relative attractiveness of holding Chinese Yuan versus US Dollar. The most common drivers are:

• Interest-rate differentials and expectations of upcoming central-bank decisions in either economy.
• Inflation prints — surprise readings against consensus tend to move the currency of the country concerned.
• Growth indicators such as GDP releases, manufacturing surveys, and labour-market data.
• Trade and current-account balances, which influence persistent demand for one currency against another.
• Risk sentiment — when global risk appetite falls, traditionally safer currencies tend to outperform higher-yielding or more cyclical ones.
• Political events, sanctions, capital controls, and changes to currency-regime arrangements where they apply.

Worked example

Suppose the rate above is R. To convert an amount of Chinese Yuan, multiply by R: amount in USD = amount in CNY × R. To go the other direction, divide instead: amount in CNY = amount in USD ÷ R. The converter at the top of the page does this automatically and updates either input as you type. For an estimate of what a real bank or transfer service would deliver, subtract a typical retail spread (often a few tenths of a percent for major pairs and noticeably more for minor or exotic pairs) and any flat fee from the result.

Common mistakes when comparing rates

• Comparing a mid-market reference rate with a consumer-facing "tourist rate" and concluding the consumer rate is fraudulent — the difference is normal spread plus fee.
• Looking at one provider's quote at one moment and another provider's quote five minutes later, and treating the difference as a markup. FX rates move continuously while major markets are open.
• Ignoring weekend and holiday gaps, when published reference rates may be carried over from the last business day even though demand for the currency has shifted.
• Forgetting that ATM withdrawals and card payments often involve two conversions when "dynamic currency conversion" is offered at the terminal — usually at a worse rate than the card network's own.

Related lookups

If you arrived here looking for the inverse direction, the USD to CNY page shows the same data presented the other way around. The guide on how exchange rates are quoted explains why the inverse rate is simply 1 ÷ R. To understand the gap between the figure on this page and what a bank actually offers, see the comparison of mid-market rates and consumer rates.

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