From Watermark Paper to Bank Circulation: The Ten-Plus Steps Behind Renminbi Printing

For years, China's banknote printing business remained largely closed to outsiders, and plants were known only by code names. That secrecy is now easing: the sign 'Beijing Banknote Printing Plant' has been placed openly at the main gate. When people receive fresh notes from a bank, they seldom picture the complicated journey behind them. The following summary outlines that journey.

From the hand-engraved template to final dispatch, each renminbi note must pass through at least a dozen processes. In a banknote plant, money is visible everywhere, yet output is tightly controlled. Even a defective note cannot simply be discarded. This helps explain why workers remain so steady and unfazed.

Renminbi production is not handled by one facility alone. Under the direct leadership of the People's Bank of China, China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation coordinates 11 enterprises that divide the work. The sites where notes are printed are called banknote printing plants.

In broad terms, the production sequence covers paper inspection, prepress processing and plate-making, trial printing, formal printing, quality inspection, cutting, a second quality inspection, and sealed storage.

The paper used for renminbi is watermark paper, a specialty grade designed for banknote printing. It comes from three banknote paper mills under China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation: Hebei Baoding Banknote Paper Mill, Jiangsu Kunshan Banknote Paper Mill and Chengdu Banknote Paper Mill. Along with resistance to wear, folding, acid and alkali, the sheet incorporates security features such as a security thread, colored red and blue fibers, and watermark patterns for anti-counterfeiting.

Before printing, workers inspect the paper sheet by sheet. Watermarks have a required orientation, so every sheet must be stacked in the correct watermark direction. A punching machine then makes positioning holes along the edge. There is no room for error.

As in ordinary printing, a printing template must be prepared before renminbi production. Because graphic anti-counterfeiting is involved, the note face is designed with computer software that creates fine, complex security patterns as well as related text and images. These elements are output as films for later use.

Printed renminbi is sent to the inspection and sealing workshop, where quality staff examine the notes under light. Inspection has two stages. The first focuses on large sheets—the press sheets that each contain several renminbi notes. At this point, inspectors mainly look for macro-level problems such as inaccurate color, damage or missing print.

After the large sheets are cleared, the next step is cutting. Cutting turns the large sheets into individual notes at the size used in everyday life. Inspectors then check the small notes for issues such as wrong serial numbers, uneven color or upside-down watermarks.

Notes that pass inspection are sealed for storage, then delivered to banks and released into circulation.

A person familiar with the operations explained that cameras monitor every process in a banknote plant, but the most important control is a worker's own mind. Facing stack after stack of new notes, he said, one must stay calm—as calm as a vegetable farmer looking at a bundle of cabbages.

Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-361800.html