Why there is no single "real" cedi to yuan rate
Search for the cedi to yuan rate and you will find several different numbers. They are all real, and they all measure different things. A mid-market rate is a notional midpoint between global buy and sell prices — it is a reference figure, not a rate anyone transacts at. A bank will quote its own rate with its own margin. A parallel-market price has no published basis at all.
The ELITE RMB rate is a fourth thing: the rate that applies to ELITE RMB transactions. It reflects the cost of providing the service, and it is published with a last-updated time so you can see how current it is.
What actually moves the rate
At a market level, exchange rates respond to supply and demand, interest rates, inflation, and expectations about the economy. For a business planning an import, the drivers worth watching are the broad ones: how the cedi is performing against major currencies, and how much demand there is for yuan at any given time.
None of those give you a reliable prediction. What they give you is a sense of whether you should build a little more headroom into your costings, which is more useful than trying to time a payment.
Planning an import around a moving rate
Two habits make rate movement manageable. First, quote your landed cost using the rate you can actually transact at, not the mid-market figure shown on a financial site — otherwise your margin calculations start too optimistic. Second, allow a margin for movement between the day you agree a supplier price and the day you pay.
If a supplier quotes you an RMB figure weeks in advance, treat the Cedis cost as a range rather than a single number. The RMB to Cedis converter gives you the figure at today's rate; your actual cost depends on the rate on the day you pay.
Where the ELITE RMB tiers fit
ELITE RMB applies two tiers based on the RMB amount in a transaction, which means the effective cost per RMB can differ between a small order and a large one. Both tiers and their amount ranges are published on the RMB exchange rate page. When you are costing an order, check which tier your RMB amount falls into rather than assuming a single rate.