China sees fast growth in bank card use

BEIJING - Bank card use in China posted rapid growth in 2018, with per capita transactions via bank cards surging over 40 percent year-on-year, according to a report from the central bank.

Chinese people each made 150.75 transactions via bank cards on average last year, up 40.24 percent, 11.52 percentage points higher than the growth recorded in 2017, said the report released by the People's Bank of China.

On average, each Chinese had 7.22 bank accounts and 5.44 bank cards by the end of 2018, up 9.39 percent and 13.08 percent, respectively, the report showed.

In rural areas, a total of 3.21 billion bank cards had been issued by the end of 2018 and 3.31 cards held per capita. Among them, 202 million credit cards were issued, a year-on-year growth of 15.6 percent.

By the end of 2018, 4.31 billion individual bank settlement accounts had been opened in rural areas, increasing 8.55 percent over the previous year, meaning that each rural Chinese owned 4.44 accounts on average, the report showed.