China issues 8.98 bln bank cards in total

China had issued a total of 8.98 billion bank cards by the end of 2020, according to a blue paper, informed The Xinhua News Agency.

Transactions worth ¥792.8 trillion ($123.24 trillion U.S. dollars) were made through bank cards last year, down 3.6% year on year, said the blue paper released by the China Banking Association.

In 2020, a total of 450 million bank cards were newly issued in China, up 5.3% from the previous year, the paper said.

By the end of last year, the outstanding balance of bank card credit totaled ¥7.91 trillion, an increase of 4.2% over the previous year, the paper showed.