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China As Center For Dirty Money. Literally.

By Dan Harris on Posted in China Business

As anyone who has been to China knows, it is very much a cash based economy. Not that long ago, I had to use cash to purchase an airplane ticket at Biejing Capital Airport. Credit card acceptance, particularly outside the tier one cities, is spotty at best.

So obviously there is a lot of cash in circulation in China. 

Now it turns out that China’s cash is way dirtier than cash elsewhere in the world. Dirtier in the sense that it carries more disease. Seriously. And if you don’t believe me, check out “Dirty Money: An Investigation into the Hygiene Status of Some of the World’s Currencies as Obtained from Food Outlets,” written by about fifteen scientists. (h/t Beyond Brics)

Yup, China’s banknotes have more bacteria per square meter than anywhere else and some of that bacteria is pretty scary. China’s banknotes lead in Bacillus cereus, Staph aureus, and Salmonella and they rank high in E. Coli also. 

Just thought you should know. 

  • Chris

    Should this really be that suprising? We all know the horrible hygiene habits of the people in the Middle Kingdom.

  • Louis Bleiriot

    “I had to buy a plane ticket (in cash) at Beijing Capital airport. So obviously there is a lot of cash in China”
    Well just how much did the freaking ticket cost? Jesus.

  • Mike

    Sorry, but you’re wrong there, of course. As we all (should) know, not for want of repeatedly being told, the Middle Kingdom harmoniously leads the world in everything that’s good, so unless having grubby cash is somehow good, either the research is biased, or the bacteria have been planted by imperialist foreigners who want to make the Middle Kingdom look bad. Obviously…
    Nevertheless, washing hands after handling cash is not a bad idea.

  • Monique

    Wow Chris

  • Jim

    What blows my mind is that they keep the dirty bills in circulation for so long. Why don’t the banks help by getting rid of the cruddy ones? Au contraire, some of the nastiest bills I’ve been given have come directly from the banks!!
    Also bring in the plastic money a la Australia.

  • nulle

    @Jim,
    you DO realize there is NO WAY that officials could get rid of the cruddy ones…..they would keep it for themselves and claim they destroyed the cruddy ones (bills)
    @ All
    Some of the bills are probably used in places not fit here and use as part of the oldest profession on earth (go figure) or used by butchers and illicit ‘medicine’ dealers

  • Floreatai Sanctus

    “US lawyer handles dirty Chinese money” would have made a better headline…

  • Tim

    This is not at all surprising. I’ve been living in southwest China for nearly eight years, and some of the money I’ve been given has been atrociously dirty.
    I wish I could say the first time I was handed banknotes with what looked like bloody fingerprints on them was surprising, but it actually wasn’t. Aside from the random notes vandalized by F-l+n Gang members that I’ve been received over the years, nearly all the banknotes we receive here in Yunnan are well…gross. That may have something to do with the fact that I’m in a comparatively backwards province, but still…this article makes me want to be even more O.C.D. about it than I already am.

  • James

    I regulary go to the local wet market and buy meat / fruit / vegetables – and every seller, yes, even the butchers, handle the product, then handle the cash.
    Those bloody finger prints Tim saw… were bloody fingerprints. Probably pig’s blood.
    I’ve laundered my cash (in the wash) many times in China, because it was so dirty.
    I warn everybody who asks me about travelling in China to never handle their cash and then touch their eyes or mouth. Nail chewing is just right out.

  • http://www.heilmanasiasourcing.com Bob

    Thought it was just the water. Can you get bottled money?