China Celebrates Year of the (Fire) Horse

2026 is the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac. And not just any old horse, but specifically the Fire Horse.

In December 2025, the People’s Bank of China announced the issuance of a 2026 commemorative banknote marking the third release in the special festive banknote series. As with the two notes produced to mark the Year of the Dragon (2024) and Year of the Snake (2025), the commemorative banknote for the Year of the Horse is a 20 yuan printed on polymer. It was produced by Guangzhou Banknote Printing Co Ltd, part of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (CBPM).

Guangzhou Banknote Printing is a modern, large-scale enterprise with comprehensive capabilities in R&D and production, both of paper and polymer banknotes. The latter boasts a complete manufacturing system that covers substrate coating, hot stamping, printing, quality inspection, and plastic-sealed packaging. It is also equipped with five major modules – analysis & testing, optical experimention, material preparation, ink formulation, and pilot-run proofing, alongside 12 functional laboratories. It is committed to research on cutting-edge anti-counterfeiting materials as well as the development and industrialisation of polymer banknote products.