Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, center, falls after addressing supporters upon his return from an African Union meeting in Ethiopia, in this Feb. 4, 2015 photo.

Zimbabwe has announced a plan to begin using the Chinese yuan as an official currency.

The news is just the latest wild twist for the Zimbabwean currency. Six months ago, Zimbabwe’s central bank announced that it was finally phasing out the local currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, after years of hyperinflation had left the currency virtually worthless. Zimbabweans were told that they would be able to exchange bank account balances of up to $175,000,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwean dollars for just 5 US dollars — a heartbreaking sum, given that it was many people’s life savings.

In practice, the Zimbabwean dollar (and the $100 trillion notes that it eventually required) had already become little more than a kitsch souvenir.

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