Chinese banks have issued more than 1.23 billion bank cards, according to figures released by the People's Bank of China.

Related readings:  Bank: Credit cards spending to rise to 140b yuan  Overseas banks can issue renminbi cards  CBRC accepting card business application  Overseas lenders record US$566m in new deposits

By the end of 2006, Chinese banks had issued 1.08 billion debit cards, accounting for 95.6 percent of the total. Meanwhile, they issued 50 million credit cards, according to the central bank.

Bank card transaction volume reached 1.89 trillion yuan in 2006, up 97 percent year on year. The volume represents 17 percent of the total retail sales of consumer goods for the year, seven percentage points higher than the previous year.

Bank cards account for 30 percent of total consumer goods retail sales in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the central bank said.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)