According to the blogger who called himself "Brother Jian", the goods were shipped from Taiwan and are currently stored in Zhejiang. He also told Nanfang Daily reporter that the HB90 is of relatively poor quality with a blurred water mark, while the HD90 is much better. "Brother Jian" claimed he had plenty of notes available, and a good reputation. He suggested the reporter buy some 100 yuan notes to try them out at a discounted price of 15 yuan. He also promised that the fake notes would be delivered after the money was sent to him.

According to South East Satellite TV reports, a Taiwanese RMB counterfeiting group was smashed on October 8 last year, with six Taiwanese arrested and fake notes recovered with a face value of more than 100 million yuan. Police revealed that the notes could not be identified by currency detectors. Sources said the factory has been operating for some time, smuggling their notes by sea to mainland and possibly into Hong Kong through the Pearl River Delta.

Taiwanese police claim that fake notes are being sold in Taiwan, that many have been smuggled into Guangdong by ship, and that some are believed to have flowed into Hong Kong and Macao. According to media reports, Taiwan's counterfeiting technology is the best in the world. On August 20 last year Taipei police discovered the most sophisticated counterfeiting factory ever found in Taiwan, with finished and semi-finished US$100 bills whose printing technology shocked the United States.

Last October, Chongqing business management office, under the People's Bank of China, instructed Chongqing banks in writing to take preventive measures against fake notes. The notice says, "Recently, financial institutions have found 2005 edition 100-yuan notes whose serial number begins with HD9026. These are of high quality and can pass through some currency detectors."

The notice also says: "Users should contact currency detector manufacturers as soon as they discover that the equipment cannot identify the fake notes, and upgrade their devices. ATM's should also be checked if it is apparent that the machinery cannot identify the fake notes."

But some banks in Dongguan, Guangdong, said Tuesday that they knew nothing about the fake notes and that no complaints had been received. Dongguan Financial Office explained that the Central Bank is in charge of currency circulation. The People's Bank of China said that it has no news or information concerning the problem, adding that it would not rely only on Internet rumors but it would investigate if necessary.

But according to National Business Daily, following the heated rumors circulating on the Internet the headquarters of the People's Bank of China (POBC) Shanghai Branch is investigating the matter and waiting for responses from the relevant departments on the issue. It has also communicated with relevant business segments.

Many commercial banks, such as the Industrial Commercial Bank of China and the China Merchants Bank, said that to date they have received no formal notice from the People's Bank of China (POBC) or the China Banking Regulatory Commission, nor have they heard of any cases or received any complaints.

(China.org.cn by Jessica Zhang, January 9, 2008)