SHANGHAI : China unveiled tighter rules late on Thursday to better regulate its $1.3 trillion credit card industry, urging lenders to adopt a"prudent" growth strategy, and monitor risks more closely.
"China's credit card business has been growing rapidly, playing a key role in facilitating payment and consumption," the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its website accompanying the release of the new rules. Chinese banks have issued a total of 800 million credit cards as of the end of 2021, with outstanding loans totalling 8.62 trillion yuan , according to the People's Bank of China. Roughly 86 billion yuan of credit card loans, or 1 per cent of total outstanding, are overdue for six months or longer.