Chinese consumers can now use Unionpay cards, bank cards issued by China's only national electronic payment operator China Unionpay (CUP), in 24 countries and regions.

Chinese travelers can pay with Unionpay cards without converting Renminbi to foreign currencies when making purchases in areas including Singapore, France and Hong Kong.

Transactions in Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and overseas markets recently saw total daily transactions of about 220 million yuan, up 53.4 percent from a year ago.

Paying by debit card has become increasingly popular among Chinese consumers. A record 12.31 billion yuan in card transactions was recorded on New Year's Day, up 70 percent from the same day in 2005.

The CUP's 22 overseas issuers have issued 130,000 credit cards and 230,000 debit cards. The total issuance is expected to top one million in 2007. .

Source: Xinhua