Bank card spending rises 45%
0 Comments
Shoppers spent lavishly on various promotions by retailers and boosted bank card consumption on the Chinese mainland by 44.7 percent during the three-day New Year holiday.
Spending on jewelry rose the highest from a year ago by 119.7 percent and notable growth was also seen in expenditure on catering, supermarkets and entertainment, China UnionPay Co, the country's sole bank card transaction clearing system, said yesterday.
The huge spending on jewelry is attributed to the Chinese tradition of buying gold jewelry to wish for a prosperous new year.
Retailers offered hefty discounts and coupons during the holiday to spur spending, luring thousands of shoppers who thronged the various malls nationwide during the holiday.
Bank cards are becoming popular in China as more Chinese, especially the young generation, turned to the plastic as safe and convenient payment vehicles.
Credit card-based transactions grew 32.8 percent on the mainland.
"The plastic is playing a more and more important role in spurring consumption and boosting economic growth," UnionPay said.
Lured by the tantalizing discounts and various promotions, shoppers headed to the stores to spend and boosted combined retail sales at 415 big and medium-sized retailers in Shanghai by 22 percent to 5.8 billion yuan (US$850 million) during the holiday which ended on Sunday.
According to the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, retailers rang up a total revenue of 1.2 billion yuan on December 31, 2009, New Year's Eve, an annual rise of 45 percent. Sales on New Year's Day rose 15 percent to 2.5 billion yuan.
Clothing seemed the most popular item shoppers bought during the holiday as sales jumped 57 percent, followed by home appliances, house-decoration products, watches and jewelry.
Sales of household appliances totaled 153 million yuan during the holiday, boosted by the central government's subsidies to spur consumption.
Sales in the dining industry rose 12.6 percent year on year to 43.2 million yuan, the commission added.
Go to ForumComments