Chinese writes a number according to what the number is doing. 2012 is 二千零一十二 or 两千零一十二 if you are counting, 二〇一二 if it is a year in the national standard's sense, and 贰仟零壹拾贰元整 as a money amount. Reading the two mainland money texts together, we count six permitted spellings of 10.10 yuan with 元 as the unit. Separately, the mainland's Negotiable Instruments Law says an instrument whose words and figures differ is void: 二者不一致的，票据无效。
Editors reserve 〇 for years and other labels
GB/T 15835-2011 is China's recommended national standard on numbers in publications, in effect since 1 November 2011 and listed as current in the national catalogue with no amendment shown. It defines two jobs. 计量 (jìliàng, measuring) puts a number through addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. 编号 (biānhào, numbering) names or orders something and does no arithmetic. Clause 5.2.5 then divides zero between them: "用作计量时，其中“0”的汉字书写形式为“零”，用作编号时，“0”的汉字书写形式为“○”。"
| Figure | Job | Form printed in the standard |
|---|---|---|
| 3052 | Measuring | 三千零五十二 |
| 2012, as a year of the common era | Numbering | 二○一二 |
The standard prints ○, U+25CB; our own prose uses 〇, U+3007. A numbering form reads digit by digit, so many years raise no question: the standard's examples include 一九九七 and 二五三. Its scope is publications, and government and enterprise documents "也可参照" (may also follow it). Our guide to the Chinese date standard covers years and the standard's editions.
Proofreaders meet 两千 once in the national standard
Is two thousand 两千 (liǎngqiān) or 二千 (èrqiān)? None of the official texts we read rules on it. GB/T 15835-2011 has one numeral example each way round: 两千 in 市场售价两千零五十元 under clause 5.1.7.3, and 二百 in 共二百三十五位同学 under clause 4.3. One of each makes no pattern, and the standard states no rule between them.
Taiwan's Ministry of Education Revised Dictionary gives 兩 as "數目字，表一對、一雙之意" (a numeral meaning a pair) and is silent on 千. We did not read a mainland dictionary, and one may well give usage guidance. Some learner pages mark 二千 as incorrect; we found no official text behind that, or behind the reverse.
By our count, 1,900 of the whole numbers from 1 to 9,999 (19.0%) contain 二百 or 二千 written the everyday way. That measures how often the choice comes up. The one firm limit is on capitals: the bank annex below lists 二（两） among the forms an amount may not use.
Lexicographers list 廿 and bank rules shut out its stand-in
廿 (niàn) means twenty and 卅 (sà) thirty. The Revised Dictionary enters 廿 as "二十", 卅 as "三十" with the modern example 他今年卅八歲, and 卌 as "四十". It also enters the phrase 不管三七廿一, where GB/T 15835-2011 clause 4.2.3 prints 不管三七二十一.
The mainland bank annex described next bans 念, which the dictionary gives as "二十。通「廿」". It does not name 廿 or 卅. Neither appears on its list of permitted characters either, and we read no mainland official text on where the two may be used.
Bookkeepers write 整 after 角 while the bank annex lets it drop
大写 (dàxiě) are the capital numerals of money: 壹, 贰, 叁 and the rest. 整 (zhěng) marks an amount as complete. Two mainland texts speak to them. Article 52 of the Finance Ministry's Basic Accounting Work Norms, as amended in 2019, says of amounts ending at 元 or 角 that 整 or 正 "应当写" (should be written). Annex 1 to the People's Bank of China's 支付结算办法 (银发〔1997〕393号, printed pages 67 to 69) requires it after 元, and its clause 二 says that after 角 it "可以不写" (may be omitted). Clause 四(一) prints ￥1,409.50 as 人民币壹仟肆佰零玖元伍角.
The annex itself calls these instruments 会计凭证, accounting vouchers, so a cheque may sit within both texts. We have not found a text reconciling them.
The zero is optional too. Under clause 四(三) and Article 52(5), a zero 元 place before a non-zero 角 may take one 零 or none. Together that gives 10.10 our six spellings: 壹拾元零壹角, 壹拾元壹角, and each of those with 整 or 正. The annex allows all six on our reading; Article 52 read alone allows the four with an ending.
Our number to hanzi converter prints one form, which both texts allow. In Money mode, 10.10 gives 壹拾元零壹角整 and 1409.50 gives 壹仟肆佰零玖元伍角整. In Number mode, 2012 gives 二千零一十二, with 二〇一二 and 两千零一十二 below it as labelled mainland options. Until the revision of 1 November 2026 it had no line for a year and no 两, its Taiwan lines printed Simplified 负 and 点, its mainland lines dropped a 零 in 1,000,010,000,000, and its cheque answer named only Article 52. A round trip cannot catch a dropped 零, because a decoder reads 零 as 0, so the revision added an independent second writer to check the zeros.
Legislators void a mismatch on the mainland and let the words win in Singapore and Taipei
Each text below concerns words and figures that differ. None concerns a badly chosen character.
| Place | Text | Where words and figures differ |
|---|---|---|
| Mainland China | 票据法 Art. 8 | 二者不一致的，票据无效 |
| Taiwan | 票據法 Art. 7 | 以文字為準 |
| Singapore | Bills of Exchange Act 1949 s.9(2) | "the sum denoted by the words is the amount payable" |
| Hong Kong | Cap. 19 s.9(2) | Same words, for a bill |
| Japan | 小切手法 Art. 9, 手形法 Art. 6 | 文字ヲ以テ記載シタル金額 (the amount in words) |
Japan's cheque statute adds that where an amount is written twice in words, or twice in figures, and the two differ, "最小金額" (the smallest amount) applies.
The form of the characters has its own consequences. Clause 六 of the annex requires capitals for an issue date, with a protective zero: 1月15日 becomes 零壹月壹拾伍日. Under clause 七 a date in small numerals is refused, while a capital date filled in irregularly "可予受理" (may be accepted), with any loss on the issuer. Banks set their own requirements, and this reports the texts only. Hong Kong practice is in our Hong Kong cheque guide.
Japanese registrars write dates in four set characters
Japan's rule appears in the family register regulations, a civil and not a banking document. Article 31(2) of the 戸籍法施行規則, the family register regulations, reads: "年月日を記載するには、壱、弐、参、拾の文字を用いなければならない。" The job here is a civil record, and no bank is involved.
Even the capital three differs. The mainland writes 叁, the Japanese regulation 参, and Taiwan's Revised Dictionary says of 三 "大寫作「參」" and has no headword for 叁. The scale words part too, as our guide to 兆 sets out. We read no Malaysian statute, so Malaysia stays out of the table.
