The State Council issued the Regulation on the Control of Renminbi (RMB) to strengthen the protection of the Chinese currency and stabilize financial order on February 7.

All institutions and individuals are obliged to safeguard the RMB, including bills and coins, and no one is allowed to damage the currency or interfere with its circulation, according to the regulation.

The regulation, in six chapters and 48 articles, set the rules for designing, printing, issuing and recovering the currency as well as officially-approved memorial RMB coins. The People's Bank of China, the central bank, is chiefly responsible for overseeing compliance.

Without the consent of the People's Bank of China, it is illegal for any institution or individual to study, purchase and use the special materials, technology and equipment for manufacturing the banknotes.

Only banking institutions are allowed to handle deposits and loans, and the police have the right to confiscate counterfeit currency and hand it over.

Forging, selling, purchasing, smuggling, transporting, holding and using counterfeited RMB notes are strictly forbidden, according to the regulations. Violators will be prosecuted.

Anyone found to have willfully damaged RMB notes may receive a warning from the police and be fined up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,200).