The Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China called on the public to avoid illegal incense paper in the shape of counterfeit renminbi during ancestral worship marking the Qingming Festival which falls on Tuesday, to maintain the solemn image of the official tender.

Authorities across multiples Chinese cities have carried out inspections of the yuan-shaped incense paper ahead of the Qingming Festival which is typically marked by burning offering as a means of Chinese ancestral worship.

Law enforcement authorities in Ruian, East China’s Zhejiang Province, seized and destroyed 3.65 million copies of counterfeit yuan incense papers in a special operation carried out on March 28. 

The color, size, pattern of the incense paper are similar to the fifth series yuan bank notes -- a violation of regulations under the  Administration of Renminbi in making, copying, buying and selling counterfeit  renminbi, the regulator said.

Market regulators in Central China’s Hubei Province also found that a small number of merchants were selling yuan-pattern incense paper mixed with sacrificial products and seized 1,000 bundles of incense money printed with renminbi pattern. The stall owners were issued warnings.

Yumin county in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region also uncovered a store of counterfeit renminbi incense paper during a special operation on March 31. The size of the fake renminbi matched that of genuine bank notes with identical braille, watermark and gold thread.

According to the Law on People's Bank of China, illegal use of renminbi imagery or features in marketing materials, publications or other commodities is an illegal act, and the People's Bank of China shall order a destruction of the counterfeit material, confiscate the illegal gains and impose a fine of less than 50,000 yuan ($7,855).

Global Times