ECONOMIC INFORMATION: CURRENCY IN USE IN MANCHURIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R000300220006-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 21, 2001
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: January 30, 1947
• Content Type: IR

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Approved For Release 2001/03/17 : CIA-RDP82-00457R000300220006-2
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i EST1 (i'7'l1U
.NT L INTEL IGENCE GROUP
W TELLUGENC REPORT
COUNTRY China
6109
d-cr . tr9 rs
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SUBJECT o :w forir tion: Cr y in Ue in
.shux?.
ORIGIN 25X1 X
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L al Tender in Nationalist held Lanchuria
DIST. 30 J. va7 1947
PAGES 3
SUPPLEMENT
1. The Ueiv Nationalist Northeast Currency, or "NEV and the Lanchuku* "Yuan" or
ilycnn currcrtc;, in all denon1nat4ona are legal tender in Nationalist=hold
1:anchuria.. Tits NEC is backed by the Central Lank of China and the T*anehukuo
cur?roncy is excbhan ,eab7e for it at the rate of 1:1 in NationalistR?eontrolled
ares~.; Since .auust 1946 when all former Soviet Russian 00oupation Northeast
Yon Currency wu3 ordered to be turned in to banks snd to be exchanged at a
25X1X rate of 2 Soviet yen to 1 EEC, Soviet yen are no longer legal tender. 0 xix
However, in most areas, Soviet Occupation Currency of 5-yen and
10-yen derto-minati ores are still beinT used and considered valid on a 1;1 basic
in coriion market transactions.) Presumably the Soviet 25X1 X
tccura::ion den are the same us the Soviet Red Army dollar notes referred to in
:r 'viou$ r* Dort$ Previous reports iridlcated Uat the redemption did not apply
to Soviet Occupation cus?re n y of 5-yon and 1O-yen denominations.)
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2. The Chinese Cr~immmn.e `49',, ro 'ir`c rrvnry e.nd that issued by pr'ovi.nolei; banks Este
not le,Tai tender in rationalist areas of .:anchuria.. and there is a heavy.
'inra znd/or jail asntenee ;3ive-n for any use of such caurrs oy ins. oor:anon business
'sher~e is qui to a bit of this type currency in the possassi on of various mar 4hiar to
in Chan,-chin and in other Nationalist areas, but because of pei.altios irpos d,
very little of it is circulated,
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Le:-al Tender In Gomrrunist- ieId i,.~inohuria
'i. The Cc:-)frrun .st '?tur ;pei?' Lank of China notes in all denominations, notes of the
various ;arovincial banks and flanchukuo -on or Yuan notes are all 1e s1 tender
,p: Go a,.Anist-hslc; territory in L anchurita. in additions Soviet Oaoupation
currency notes are widely usesd in Communist areas although not definitely
staatad as ?.e,;ai ourranoy. c7~Ot A previously reported.
CLASSIFICATION R ST1(:l'I~D __- _......- ...~rrtrA&*TAH AnIM
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EL E Oi? THIS DOCUMENT.
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Approved For Release .OCIA-RDP82-00457ROO0300
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oirculution. )
is the Comaunlst ,ungpe
300-yen notes of the Manchukuo currency were withdrawn about 5 August 19146, whhi le
a Lungching source states that after I eptember I S446 Usnohukuo notes were
withdrawn. As for Soviet Occupation currency notes, an analysis of the. more
reliable reports indicates that the Corrrtunists did call in ny of these notes
in exchan;e for their own notes but that Soviet Occupation currency notes are
cat-ill circulating in some Communist areas. Most sources agree thact the Communist
3ttungpai"t notes, ;.,anchukuo notes and .Soviet Occupation currency notes are in
the only currency accepted as legal tera(iFY
its the
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IIs3 un hchYeng (7.2 ~ F1~O~~) Q and other towns between Antun , and the
oviet-controlled Kwantung peninsula, only the `anohvkuo ;gin is now being
used because the inhabitants refuse to accept Chinese Connznunist or Soviet
notes Note. Source of paragraphs I and 3 believes this very proba~ lA
becausfa of the Nationalist advance toward this areas as whenever the Nationalists
threaten a re,;ion the Communist attun,pei" currency is quite generally refused
aa_ud thus the 1:unchukuo yen serveo us a safe interim Currency. )
in the Soviet-controll.+edl a,i f,unt, poninisula, including ieairen, the Soviet
Occupation currency is official legal tender, although particularly in Dairen
a,it ~ and in the 1 anehurian border towns, Cor rnznist "tun-pei" ccz_d 1'.anchukuo yen
currency are used so coicmkonly in trade that in swords of th.- source, "There
really seemed to be three le;;al currencies." Source stated that occasionally
Soviet soldiotrs will use Russian rubles in buying items, although use of them
is forbidden by Soviet occupation authorities,. On one occasion source also
.,ttra a Soviet soldier use U.S. dollars food
Previa al, roporfi d She
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believed he used ; j and Z.1 bills.
sources indicate that the Bank of Korea notes are also in oirouG
ration. her sources do not indicate that Communist "tun;;pei" currency is
circulating. A previously reported sour cestates that the .Soviets have
forbidden the circulation of the (oct mu i st paper ncneyra)
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Exchan;e Rates in Nationalist held "r;anchuria
6. Exchange rates of l;1 between le;;al tender and currency rrtes in eosnnnon use
in Nationalist territories has been coverer- in paragraph 1. The exchange rate
between NEC and U.S. dollars in Chan;chun was as follows
22 October 1916
27 October 1946
12 1 ovember 1946
not s_a e
made by banks and were o aan from a bank source, it 7 s not know wn whether or
?h= T+~ i has bescsn verified
NEC
1450 l
1~3D 1.
3 `6` 1
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tyhether above rates refer to buying or soiling is
1ilthoui*h these rates refer to currency exchan4;es
not they are official :overr?rment exchange reato,* J. {
that the foregoing rates are the commonly accepted ones in Changchuta, tho amount
of exchange s;sculation and the scarcity of official exchange for converting;
into t3;. dollars makes for av~; ~r 'l uctuati
e
c
n
y
this regional curr
October, and
n Changchun sold U.S,43O, for l33 x5OO -TIC on 29 October, on ..20- for 8.400 141X )
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^ 70 The NEC exchanges officially with ONC at the rata of I NEC to 13 CI;C. 11w ever.,
blaelmarket prices put the NEC at the ratio of 1:10 or 1s12 with CNC 0
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Exchan a Rates In Communist held _' hnehuria
8. Exohaxe rates between Nationalist NEC and communist "tungpei" are very difficult
to determinabecause of the fact that neither side officially reeornizes the other's
nurrency. Nevertheless, cxchara a tr+`Rnsaotioms, buyir,; and sol i.Yl,~, etoa, are
carried on all the time, particularly in border areas. In these transactions,
the rate constantly fluctuates from time to time and place to place and, often
depends on the circumstances of local supply and demand, i.e., whether they are
tryirii to buy up sizeable amounts clandestinely, For example, durinu October when
the withdrawal of Communist troops from Harbin to the area around Chiamussu took
place, first the prices of commodities bought in Harbin by the oople there using-
Communist "tungpei" were affected, and then the Communist currency gradually depre-
ciated to a considerable extent. Every tine more Communist troops vithdraw
northward from Harbin, the people lose faith in the Communist currency. As of
30 October, even Communist officials were buying r anehukuo yen at a rate of 5 ;ten
:o iF Communist "tungpei," althourgh the Harbin official rate was set at 2 yen to
l Communist "tunCpei." The purchasing; power of the Communist currenen by com-
parison was even lover than this exahan;;e rate would indicate. The exchange rate
between Communist "tun;pei" and Soviet Occupation currency is l;l
ivote : aource of paragraph L. and 5 reports that at Vre.f angtien (l2202934)
100 3oviot Occupation ,,on is worth only 50 Communist "tungpei" and that the
iifenohukuo yen exchanges with Communist "tungpei" at the rate of Z;io)
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9 Source reported having had to pay slightly over 150 Soviet Occupation yen for
every yen of ?::anchukuo currency. ( '!ote : This statement is probably 25X1 A
true, as a previously reported source stated o 23Alugust that the raX1X
was Soviet Occupation 105 to 1 aanchulkra. yen, and a source with infornat-185M
as of 20 3epternber stated that 100 ':anchurian yuan were worth 150 dollars in
Soviet Armor Votes,, Another source stated that the rate was 17 Soviet Army
l4iotes to 10 :.1anchurian Yuan. 25X1 X
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Cauntariaatin
00 The Comuni sts are making counterfeit &:,C in :Hrbin and. Chia-nussu and sending
it down through the urxlerground into _lat i.ona.list-liberated areas to flood the
arkot and depreciate the _-.oney market there,
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Approved For Release 2001/03/17 CIA-RDP82-00457R000300220006-2