ZCZC
BCN-22
CHINA-BANK-CARDS
China has over 7 bln bank cards
BEIJING, June 23, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – China had issued 7.03 billion bank
cards by the end of 2017, meaning each Chinese person has about 5 cards on
average, according to a new industry report.
The total number was up 10.3 percent from a year earlier, said the report
released by the China Banking Association.
Last year, the number of transactions via bank cards rose 29.4 percent to
149 billion, with a total of 735 trillion yuan (about 113 trillion U.S.
dollars) swiped from bank cards.
“Consumption via bank cards accounted for 48.7 percent in China’s total
retail sales of consumer goods, rising for a fourth year, giving a strong
boost to consumption growth and upgrades,” said Huang Runzhong, secretary
general of the association.
Meanwhile, the ratio of live debit cards reversed the downward trend for
two years to 66.2 percent in 2017.
That ratio of live credit cards rose to 73.1 percent last year, showing
higher quality of the bank card industry, the report said.
BSS/XINHUA/HR/1320