In 2006, bank card spending in China reached a total of 1.89 trillion Yuan (US$242.3 billion), a 97 percent increase over 2005. According to a report issued by the central bank on April 18, 2007, this amount represented a 17% of last year’s total retail sales of consumer goods.

By the end of 2006, Chinese banks had issued over 1.13 billion payment cards, including 50 million credit cards which accounted for about 4.4% of the total. According to a study conducted by the China Unionpay, less than 20% of those payment cards were actually active.

The number of merchants that accept card payments reached 520 thousand at the end of last year. There are 818 thousand POS terminals and 102 thousand ATMs in operation by the end of 2006, a 532 thousand and a 49 thousand increase over 2002 respectively.

By Chen Lei