Buying by the 斤: Weight and Price Conversions in Mainland China

At a mainland Chinese market, a price of 12 yuan per 斤 is equivalent to 24 yuan per kilogram. Comparing it directly with a supermarket label of 20 yuan per kilogram would reverse which offer looks cheaper.

The modern mainland market convention is 1斤 = 500 g and 1两 = 50 g. That means ten liang make one jin, and two jin make one kilogram. These values describe the mainland convention; units translated as catty or tael elsewhere can have different values.

A short conversion table

Multiply jin by 0.5 to obtain kilograms. Multiply kilograms by 2 to obtain jin. For liang, multiply by 50 to obtain grams. Keeping the unit beside every intermediate value helps prevent a weight conversion from becoming a price error.

A market purchase worked through

Suppose apples cost 9 yuan per jin and you buy 750 g. That weight is 1.5斤, so the price before other charges or offers is 9 × 1.5 = 13.50 yuan. If a scale displays kilograms, the matching unit price is 18 yuan per kilogram.

Now compare a second stall charging 16 yuan per kilogram. It charges 12 yuan for the same 750 g. Both the quantity and price basis must match before deciding which quotation is lower.

Read the small unit on the label

公斤 and 千克 both mean kilogram. 克 means gram. A sign may price an item per jin, per kilogram, per 100 g, per pack or per item. A large price and a tiny unit can be visually misleading even when the arithmetic is straightforward.

For packaged goods, compare net weight rather than assuming the box's gross shipping weight is edible product weight. If a quoted price is for a pack, first read the pack's net weight. A 400 g pack costing 10 yuan has a unit price of 25 yuan per kilogram.

Compare packs with loose goods

A pack price cannot be compared directly with a loose-goods price unless the quantities are made equal. Suppose a 300 g pack costs 8.40 yuan and loose goods cost 13 yuan per jin. The pack is 28 yuan per kilogram, while the loose goods are 26 yuan per kilogram. On weight alone, the loose goods cost less.

For the same 300 g, the loose-goods price is 13 × 0.6 = 7.80 yuan. That comparison says nothing about quality, packaging or waste; it simply puts the quantities on a matching basis. Keep those other differences separate when deciding which product to buy.

If a label gives a price per 100 g, multiply it by ten for the kilogram price, or by five for the jin price. A price of 2.80 yuan per 100 g is therefore 28 yuan per kilogram and 14 yuan per jin. Writing out one of these equalities is usually enough to prevent confusion at checkout.

Apply an offer after conversion

An offer changes the price, not the physical relationship between jin and kilograms. Suppose an item normally costs 18 yuan per jin and is sold at 8折. The payable unit price is 18 × 0.8 = 14.40 yuan per jin. For 750 g, or 1.5斤, the total is 21.60 yuan before any separately stated charges.

You can also convert the original price to 36 yuan per kilogram, apply the same 0.8 multiplier and multiply by 0.75 kg. The result is again 21.60 yuan. If the two calculations disagree, check whether the discount was applied twice or whether a price per jin was multiplied by a quantity in kilograms.

For an actual purchase, use the measured sale quantity rather than a rough estimate you made before weighing. A displayed amount of 0.748 kg is close to, but not exactly, 750 g. Keep the scale's quantity and the seller's stated final rounding method when checking the receipt. Do not silently replace the measured amount with a convenient fraction of a jin.

When sending a quotation to someone unfamiliar with the unit, write both versions: for example, 14.40 yuan per 斤 (500 g), equivalent to 28.80 yuan/kg. The original unit remains visible, and the recipient can compare it with other offers without guessing which regional meaning of “catty” was intended.

Keep the regional convention explicit

Do not apply the mainland values automatically to a Hong Kong or Taiwan quotation, an old recipe, or a historical text. Ask which unit definition the seller or author is using. A familiar English translation is not enough to establish the weight.

The Chinese unit converter handles the mainland units. Convert the weight first, then apply any clearly stated offer with the Chinese discount calculator. For a quote, keep the original unit and the converted unit together so another reader can reproduce the calculation.