It's going to be briefcases full of Mao-notes for a while longer - the People's Bank of China has denied rumors that it was preparing to issue a new note containing Deng Xiaoping's image.

The image here, obviously a digital mockup, had been posted to online messageboards with the message that the central bank had decided to issue a 500-yuan note as part of its 6th series or RMB notes. It seems appropriate for the architect of China's market reforms to be worth more than the Great Helmsman, but unfortunately the central bank feels that the time is not right - a higher denomination would feed fears of inflation (never mind that 100 yuan no longer buys what it did in 1987). And the final note of the 5th RMB series, the green 1-yuan, was just issued last year, so it's a bit early for a 6th series.

Will the rumor die? Probably not, since apparently no one listened to the explanations when the Deng-note circulated on message boards last December. None of the articles reporting on this latest instance make mention of the earlier Beijing Times investigation. Look for it to pop up again some time next winter.