Chinese Number Converter

How to Use the Chinese Number Converter

1. 1. Choose the direction. Number → Chinese spells a number out; Chinese → number reads numerals back into digits.
2. 2. Enter the number or the numerals. Whole numbers up to 24 digits work, with negatives and decimals. In the other direction you can paste standard, financial, traditional, digit-by-digit or RMB-amount numerals.
3. 3. Pick the style. Standard numerals (一二三), financial 大写 (壹贰叁), simplified or traditional characters, the form (full numerals, digit by digit, or an RMB amount), and whether to use 两 for a spoken two.
4. 4. Read the result and the notes. Below the answer you see the number regrouped in fours and a short note on each rule that shaped it.

Why Chinese Counts in Fours

English opens a new unit every three digits (thousand, million); Chinese opens one every four. 万 is 10⁴ and 亿 is 10⁸, so 123,456,789 is regrouped as 1,2345,6789 and read 一亿 二千三百四十五万 六千七百八十九. Reading a long number is a matter of cutting it into fours from the right. This is why 10,000 is 一万 (one wan), not “ten thousand”, and why a million is 一百万 (a hundred wan).

The tool shows the same split in the mixed form that Chinese news and finance often use: 123456789 is 1亿2345万6789. Above 亿, mainland usage stacks the units, so 万亿 is 10¹² and 亿亿 is 10¹⁶. The classical names 兆 (10¹²), 京 (10¹⁶) and 垓 (10²⁰) are available too, but 兆 is ambiguous in some places, so check which your reader expects.

The 零 and 十 Rules

One 零 stands for a whole run of zeros between non-zero digits: 105 is 一百零五 and 1001 is 一千零一. The zero is also written across a group boundary — 10001 is 一万零一 — and over a skipped group, as in 一亿零五千 for 100,005,000. Trailing zeros are never written, so 10,000 is 一万 and not 一万零.

十 is written without 一 when it opens the number: 15 is 十五 and 100,000 is 十万. Once the number has started, 一 returns: 115 is 一百一十五. Financial numerals always keep the 壹, so 15 is 壹拾伍. For a spoken two, 两 often replaces 二 before 百, 千, 万 and 亿 (两百, 两千, 两万), but not in the tens: 22 is 二十二 in every style.

Financial Numerals and RMB Amounts

The standard numerals are easy to alter: 一 becomes 二 or 三 with a stroke or two, and 十 becomes 千. The financial set 壹贰叁肆伍陆柒捌玖拾佰仟 (大写, “capital” numerals) is made of characters that cannot be changed that way, which is why cheques, contracts and invoices use it. In traditional script the set uses 貳 and 陸.

For RMB amounts, the People’s Bank of China’s rules for filling in bills and settlement documents put 人民币 before the amount, end a whole-yuan amount with 元整, use 角 for tenths and 分 for hundredths, write 零 between 元 and a lone 分, and add no 整 after 角 or 分. The amount form follows them: 100.05 is 人民币壹佰元零伍分 and 12345.67 is 人民币壹万贰仟叁佰肆拾伍元陆角柒分. It accepts at most two decimals. Always check a handwritten amount against the bank’s current requirements.

Reading Chinese Numerals Back

Going from Chinese to digits, the tool understands standard, financial, traditional and mixed forms (3万5千), digit-by-digit numerals such as 二〇二六, 廿 and 卅 for 20 and 30, and RMB amounts. It follows the usual colloquial convention for a bare digit after a unit: 一百二 is 120 and 三万五 is 35,000, as people say them. A 零 turns that off, so 三万零五 is exactly 30,005. The notes under the result say when the colloquial reading was applied.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you write 10,000 in Chinese?

一万 (yī wàn). Chinese has a single word for 10,000, 万, so there is no “ten thousand”. A hundred thousand is 十万 (ten wan) and a million is 一百万 (a hundred wan).

When is 零 written in a Chinese number?

Once for any run of zeros between non-zero digits, even across the boundary between groups of four: 105 is 一百零五 and 10001 is 一万零一. It is not written at the end, so 1,000 is 一千 and 10,000 is 一万.

Is it 二 or 两?

Both mean two. 二 is used in counting, in tens (二十) and in the last place of a number. 两 is the form for a quantity before 百, 千, 万 and 亿 in speech, as in 两百 and 两万. In formal writing 二百 and 二万 are also correct.

What are financial numerals (大写) and when do I need them?

They are the elaborate characters 壹贰叁肆伍陆柒捌玖拾佰仟, used on cheques, receipts and contracts so that an amount cannot be altered by adding strokes. Everyday writing uses the plain characters 一二三.

How do I write an amount of money in Chinese capital letters?

Write 人民币, then the amount in financial numerals, then 元整 if there are no 角 or 分: 人民币壹佰元整. With 角 and 分, write them after 元 and leave off 整: 人民币壹佰元伍角伍分. Put 零 between 元 and a lone 分.

Is 一十 or 十 correct for 10 to 19?

十 alone when the number starts there, as in 十五. Inside a longer number the 一 is written: 一百一十五. In financial numerals the 壹 is always kept, as in 壹拾伍.

How do I read a year in Chinese?

Digit by digit: 2026 is 二〇二六 or 二零二六 (èr líng èr liù). Years are not read as a full number such as 二千零二十六. The digit-by-digit form of this tool gives both zero characters.