China denies rumors of 500-yuan note


The Fuzhou Branch of the People’s Bank of China denied rumors that a new 500-yuan (US$73.20) note will be released by November 2009. Fueled by fears of inflation, rumors of the new banknote have been floating around since 2006. Wei Guoqi, a senior official at the People’s Bank of China, declared “it's not true,” and stated that no formal notice about the introduction of any new banknotes had been received. Images of the purported new note bearing a portrait of Deng Xiaoping are considered a hoax.