Chinese Grammar Bank

Big numbers in Chinese

One billion in Chinese is 十亿 (shí yì), that is the number you are probably here for, and you will be able to say it confidently by the end of this page. Chinese handles big numbers in Chinese differently from English: where English groups digits in threes, Chinese groups them in fours, built around the unit 万 (wàn, ten thousand) and 亿 (yì, one hundred million). Once you see that pattern, numbers that look overwhelming in Arabic numerals become very readable in Chinese.

This guide walks you through every major unit up to one trillion, with worked examples, a quick-reference table, and a shortcut for memorising the ones you will actually use. If you have ever wondered how difficult Chinese really is, big numbers are a great place to see both the challenge and the logic at work.

Quick answer: big numbers in Chinese

In Chinese, digits are grouped in fours (not threes), built around three anchor units: 万 (wàn) = 10,000, 亿 (yì) = 100,000,000, and 兆 (zhào) or 万亿 (wàn yì) = 1,000,000,000,000. So one million is 一百万 (yī bǎi wàn, literally “one hundred ten-thousands”), one billion is 十亿 (shí yì, “ten hundred-millions”), and one trillion is 一万亿 (yī wàn yì) or 一兆 (yī zhào).

Number units in Chinese

Before diving into the big numbers, here is the key structural rule: Chinese groups digits in fours, not threes.

In English, you split 1,000,000 as 1,000,000 (ones, thousands, millions). In Chinese, you split 1,000,000 as 100,0000 (ones, ten-thousands). Every large number in Chinese is built on multiples of 万 (wàn, ten thousand), not thousands. Keep that in mind and the whole system makes sense.

First, here are the base units for numbers within four digits:

CHINESE SMALL NUMBER UNITSPINYINENGLISH
个gèOnes
十shíTens
百bǎiHundreds
千qiānThousands

Now, we mainly use these specific numerical units to say huge numbers:

1) 万 (wàn) = ten thousand

  • 十万 (shí wàn) = one-hundred thousand
  • 百万 (bǎi wàn) = one million
  • 千万 (qiān wàn) = ten million

2）亿 (yì ) = one-hundred million

  • 十亿 (shí yì) = one billion
  • 百亿 (bǎi yì) = ten billion
  • 千亿 (qiān yì) = one-hundred billion

3) 兆 (zhào) / 万亿 (wàn yì) = one trillion

One trillion in Chinese is 一兆 (yī zhào) or, more commonly in everyday Mandarin, 一万亿 (yī wàn yì). Both forms are correct. You will hear 万亿 in financial news and business contexts in Beijing and Shanghai; 兆 appears more often in technical and computing contexts.

To build larger amounts, the same four-digit grouping logic applies:

  • 一兆 / 一万亿 (yī wàn yì) = 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion)
  • 十兆 / 十万亿 (shí wàn yì) = 10,000,000,000,000 (ten trillion)

So as you can probably tell, there are three fundamental units: 万 (wàn), 亿 (yì), and 兆/万亿.

Just with a few of these building blocks, you can express any number under thirteen digits in Chinese.

Next, let’s see how to apply these numerical units.

Quick-reference: Chinese number units at a glance

Arabic numeralChinese characterPinyinEnglish label
1一yīone
10十shíten
100百bǎihundred
1,000千qiānthousand
10,000万wànten thousand
100,000十万shí wànone hundred thousand
1,000,000百万bǎi wànone million
10,000,000千万qiān wànten million
100,000,000亿yìone hundred million
1,000,000,000十亿shí yìone billion
10,000,000,000百亿bǎi yìten billion
100,000,000,000千亿qiān yìone hundred billion
1,000,000,000,000万亿 / 兆wàn yì / zhàoone trillion

Ten thousand: 万 (wàn)

万 (wàn) is the Chinese unit for ten thousand, and if you are starting to wonder how difficult Chinese really is, big numbers are actually a great entry point into the logic of the language. One ten-thousand is 一万 (yī wàn). It is the first big stepping stone in the Chinese number system, and it trips up a lot of learners because English has no equivalent single word for ten thousand. The key shift: Chinese groups digits in fours, not threes, so every number is built around multiples of 万.

Split in the Chinese way, “15000” should be divided as “1,5000” and is read 一万两千 (yīwàn liǎng qiān).

TYPICAL SPLITCHINESE SPLITCHARACTERSPINYIN
10,0001,0000一万yī wàn
18,0001,8000一万八千yī wàn bā qiān
40,0004,0000四万sì wàn

Then, if we apply the small number units into this:

TYPICAL SPLITCHINESE SPLITCHARACTERSPINYIN
40,0054,0005四万零五sì wàn líng wǔ
40,0504,0050四万零五十sì wàn líng wǔ shí
40,5004,0500四万零五百sì wàn líng wǔ bǎi
45,0004,5000四万五千sì wàn wǔ qiān
31,2403,1240三万一千两百四十sān wàn yī qiān liǎng
bǎi sì shí

One hundred million: 亿 (yì)

亿 (yì) means one hundred million (100,000,000). It is the second major unit in the Chinese number system, sitting above 万 (wàn, ten thousand). To say one billion, you say 十亿 (shí yì), literally “ten hundred-millions.” To say two hundred million, you say 两亿 (liǎng yì). The method is the same as with 万: split your number into groups of four digits and match each group to the right unit.

So for example:

“1,500,000,000” should be written out as “十亿五千万 (shí yì wǔ qiān wàn).”

View More Phrases
TYPICAL SPLITCHINESE SPLITCHARACTERSPINYIN
300,000,0003,0000,0000三亿sān yì
240,500,0002,4050,0000两亿四千五十万liǎng yì sì qiān wǔ shí wàn
1,200,080,00012,0008,0000十二亿零八万shí èr yì líng bā wàn
7,300,500,04073,0050,0040七十三亿五十万零四十qī shí sān yì wǔ shí wàn líng sì shí

二 (èr) or 两 (liǎng): which two do you use?

You have probably noticed the worked examples above use 两亿 (liǎng yì) rather than 二亿. Here is the rule:

  • Use 两 (liǎng) before a measure word or unit: 两亿 (liǎng yì, two hundred million), 两万 (liǎng wàn, twenty thousand), 两千 (liǎng qiān, two thousand).
  • Use 二 (èr) in the middle or end of a number string: 十二亿 (shí èr yì, 1.2 billion), 二十 (èr shí, twenty), 三百零二 (sān bǎi líng èr, three hundred and two).

A simple way to remember it: when “two” comes directly in front of a unit like 万, 亿, 百, or 千 and it is the leading digit, go with 两. When it sits inside a compound number, use 二.

Summary

Following this, we’ll show you how to write a big number in Chinese characters and how to say it right step by step.

For instance, take the number “3,056,200“

  • STEP 1 | Write down the number and place commas at every four digits. In this case, “305,6200”
  • STEP 2 | The first three numbers are “305”, which you normally say “三百零五.” And it is under the “万 (wàn)” unit. So we combine them as “三百零五万“
  • STEP 3 | The last four numbers are “6200”, which you will say “六千二百“
  • STEP 4 | Combine steps 2 & 3. This is how you say this number：三百零五万六千二百

Using steps may seem complicated at first, but don’t worry, here is also a shortcut!

Shortcut

The simple way to get comfortable with large numbers is to lock in a few anchors and build outward from them.

Start with 一百万 (yī bǎi wàn) as your million anchor. It is literally “one hundred ten-thousands,” and once it clicks, the whole scale opens up:

  • 一百万 (yī bǎi wàn) = 1,000,000 (one million), your anchor
  • 一千万 (yī qiān wàn) = 10,000,000 (ten million), one step up
  • 十亿 (shí yì) = 1,000,000,000 (one billion), two steps up

You are not counting zeroes; you are just moving up one unit at a time. That is the shortcut.

TYPICAL SPLITCHINESE SPLITCHARACTERSPINYIN
34,0543,4354三万四千三百五十四sān wàn sì qiān sān bǎi wǔ shí sì
5,670,890567,1890五百六十七万一千八百九十wǔ bǎi liù shí qī wàn yī qiān bā bǎi jiǔ shí
9,560,435956,4435九百五十六万四千四百三十五jiǔ bǎi wǔ shí liù wàn sì qiān sì bǎi sān shí wǔ
30,456,7203045,6720三千零四十五万六千二十sān qiān líng sì shí wǔ wàn liù qiān èr shí
200,800,0002,0080,0000两亿零八十万liǎng yì líng bā shí wàn
2,400,360,89924,0036,089二十四亿三十六万零八百九十九èr shí sì yì sān shí liù wàn líng bā bǎi jiǔ shí jiǔ

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FAQs

What is the main difference between the commas in English and in Chinese?

So first, in English, we place the comma at every 3 digits.

But in Chinese, it is a bit different, because we place the comma at every 4 digits.

How to say ten billion in Chinese?

In Chinese, ten billion is: 百亿 (bǎi yì).

What is the Chinese split for 1,200,080,000?

The Chinese split for 1,200,080,000 is: 12, 0008,0000, and we say it:十二亿零八万 (shí èr yì líng bā wàn).

What are the four steps you need to remember for writing big numbers in Chinese?

STEP 1 | Write down the number and place commas at every four digits. In this case, “305,6200”

STEP 2 | The first three numbers are “305”, which you normally say “三百零五.” And it is under the “万 (wàn)” unit. So we combine them as “三百零五万”

STEP 3 | The last four numbers are “6200”, which you will say “六千二百”

STEP 4 | Combine steps 2 & 3. This is how you say this number：三百零五万六千二百

Of course, if you do not want to learn this step, there is also another method: shortcut.

The simple way to write out large numbers is to pick one or two frequently used numbers and just memorise them.

For example: “一百万 (yībǎi wàn),” is a recommended number to memorise.

If you can remember it, then going to 一千万 (yīqiān wàn) is way easier and faster since you don’t have to count all those zeroes one by one.

Another example:

34,054, in Chinese we will write it like this: 3,4354.

In Chinese characters: 三万四千三百五十四 (sān wàn sì qiān sān bǎi wǔ shí sì)

How to say thousand in Chinese?

In Chinese, thousand is: 千 (qiān).

What is the Chinese split for 40,000, and how to say it?

The Chinese split for 40,000 is: 4,0000, and we say it: 四万 (sì wàn).

How do you say ten billion in Chinese?

Ten billion in Chinese is 百亿 (bǎi yì), literally “one hundred hundred-millions.” Written out, 10,000,000,000 splits the Chinese way as 100,0000,0000, which reads as 一百亿 (yī bǎi yì).

Want to practise saying these numbers out loud?

Reading a table is one thing; actually using 十亿 in a real conversation is another. If you want to practise big numbers (and everything else) with a native Mandarin teacher, you can try a free class at Flexi Classes and see how quickly it sticks.

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