Bankcard Users to Spend 30 Billion Yuan in Beijing in 2005

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 ◆ Bankcard Users to Spend 30 Billion Yuan in Beijing in 2005

Beijing is speeding up the reform of bankcard equipment and expects 30 billion yuan (3.61 billion US dollars) to be spent via bankcard by 2005, says Liu Qi, mayor of Beijing.

Liu made the remarks at a municipal financial conference held in the capital recently. He said the number of Beijing's bank card users should be far above the average level in China to meet the city's needs to be modernized and internationalized.

China's bankcard business started in 1985 and by the end of 2000, the number of financial institutions offering cards had reached 55, with a total of 277 million domestic cards and nearly 200,000 international cards issued.