Mastercard International issued 20 million Mastercards in China last year, representing a 83 percent rise year-on-year.

The Mastercard transaction volume increased by four percent to US$63 billion, said Xu Guang, Vice-President of the Asian-Pacific District of Mastercard International.

The number of shops accepting Mastercard soared 13 percent to reach 366,000 and the number of ATMs accepting Mastercard reached 5,400, up by 23 percent.

China is the fastest growing area for Mastercard International. Xu predicted that there will be rising momentum for the growth of Mastercard in China on account of the country's pending entry into the WTO and China's tourism development.

Mastercard International will help China expand the number of bank members, increase the number of ATMs and data processing facilities and the issuance E-commerce cards.

(Xinhua 01/25/2001)