Bank card spending rises 37%

A consumption boom swelled bank card transactions on China ’s mainland by 36.7 percent during the longest-ever National Day holiday from last year, China UnionPay Co said yesterday. Transactions using bank cards totaled 133.4 billion yuan (US$19.5 billion) over the eight-day holiday as consumers spent on jewelry, autos and entertainment, said UnionPay, China’s sole bank card system. Credit card-based transactions rose to 35.69 billion yuan during the holiday, with daily average transactio