中国是世界上最早使用货币(currency)的国家之一。中国古代使用的主要货币类型是铜钱(coppercoin)。从秦朝统一各国到清朝末期，圆形方孔的硬币取代了所有先秦货币，成为中国货币的主要形式。然而，各个朝代使用的货币体系不尽相同。纸币(banknote)最早出现于宋朝，元、明、淸时期广泛使用。货币与每个历史时期的社会、经济和政治制度密切相关。从汉唐时期起，中国的铜钱和纸币开始被各个邻国复制。大约同期，外币流人中国，刺激了国际商业经济的发展。
参考译文：
China was one of the world's pioneers in usingcurrency.Copper coin was the main type of currencyused in ancient China.Round coins with square holesreplaced all pre-Qin currencies and became thedominant form of Chinese currency from theunification of China in the Qin Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.However,variousmonetary systems were used throughout the dynasties.Banknote first emerged in the SongDynasty,and was widely circulated in the Yuan,Ming and Qing Dynasties.Currencies developedclosely with the social,economic and political systems in each historical period.Since the Han andTang Dynasties,Chinese copper coins and banknote began to be copied by various neighboringstates.About the same time,foreign currencies flowed into China,stimulating the developmentof an international commercial economy.