New security-enhanced 100 yuan note to enter market on Thursday

New 100-yuan notes wheeled out in the factory of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, Oct 29. [Photo/Xinhua]

A new 100-yuan bank note will be released by the central bank on Thursday, Xinhua reported.

Part of the fifth set of bank notes introduced by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) in 1999, the 100-yuan bank note was last changed in 2005.

The design will stay largely the same as the 2005 series, but the new bank notes are harder to counterfeit and easier for machines to read, Shang Zhiyu from Currency Gold and Silver Bureau under PBOC explained.

Shao Guowei, chief technology officer of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation, said the note's enhanced security features, including optical-variable security thread and value numeral, allow the public to easily identify fake equivalents.

The old version of the 100-yuan note will stay in circulation, the PBOC added.

The 100-yuan note is the largest denomination of the Chinese currency.