History of the euro midnight on 1 January 1999, when the national currencies of participating countries (the eurozone) ceased to exist independently in that their exchange rates were locked at fixed rates against each other, effectively making them mere non-decimal subdivisions of the euro. The euro thus became the successor to the European Currency Unit (ECU). The notes and coins for the old currencies, however, continued to be used as legal tender until new notes and coins were introduced on 1 January 2002 (having been distributed in small amounts in the previous December). Beginning on 1 January 1999, all bonds and other forms of
Yuan (currency) code for renminbi is CNY, an abbreviation of "Chinese yuan". (A similar case is the use of the terms "sterling" to designate British currency and "pound" for the unit of account.) The symbol for the yuan (元) is also used in Chinese to refer to the currency units of Japan "(yen)" and Korea "(won)", and is used to translate the currency unit "dollar" as well as some other currencies; for example, the United States dollar is called "Meiyuan" () in Chinese, and the euro is called "Ouyuan" (). When used in English in the context of the modern foreign exchange