Chinese consumers spent 59 billion yuan (US$8.63 billion) in 89.17 million bank-card-based interbank transactions from Jan. 1 to Jan. 3, China UnionPay said yesterday.

The number of transactions was up 55.8 percent year-on-year, while the value was up 70.5 pecent, the bank card alliance added.

Credit-card-based consumption was 16.5 billion yuan, up 89 percent.

Bank-card-based business accounts for 25 percent of retail sales, it said.

As of Dec. 31, retail outlets hooked up to UnionPay's bank-card network numbered more than 1.1 million nationwide, with some 1.7 million point of sale terminals and 160,000 automatic teller machines.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2009)