Ensure Chinese economy "circulates smoothly" (3)

"Develop financial services for the public"

"In the 60 years since the founding of New China, and in particular since reform and opening-up, the central bank of China has been developing financial services for the public. The relationship between finance and the public has become much closer," said Zhou Xiaochuan.

At present, most people own several credit cards. An expense can be easily paid with only a card and a signature. With the joint efforts of China's central bank and other relevant departments, the credit card industry has achieved significant progress. 1.9 billion credit cards have been issued in China, ranking first in the world. Excluding the real estate and wholesale industries, credit card transactions account for 27.7 percent of total retail sales of consumer goods.

The first thing Mr Gu did after returning from traveling in Europe was deposit money into his international credit card account to cover the 1,000 Euros he spent in Europe. "Overdue payments will be recorded in 'credit records'. A bad credit record will make it difficult to apply for loans or new cards or do other things in the future."

The "credit records" cherished by Mr Gu were established by the central bank. The personal "credit records" system - a general database of personal credit information - was formally launched in January 2006, and so far, the credit information of about 654 million people has been recorded. A personal "credit record" is like an "economic ID cards". It encourages individuals to maintain a good credit record by awarding users with a good credit record and punishing those with a bad credit record.

"We will firmly reject incorrect arguments"

In March 2009 during the week before the G20 London Summit, the website of China’s central bank successively published three articles written by Zhou, which attracted a great deal of attention from China and other countries.

"At the beginning of 2009, some people argued that a major reason behind the emergence of this financial crisis was a global imbalance created by China's holding excessive foreign exchange reserves. We believe that this argument is completely untrue and illogical, so we would definitely firmly reject it," said Zhou Xiaochuan.

As the proportion of China's economy in the world economy continues to grow and the role that China plays in providing disaster relief, recovering economic growth and maintaining financial stability becomes increasingly important, China's right of speak in international financial affairs also continues to strengthen. China's financial standing, policies and opinions are attracting more attention from the world.

By People's Daily Online
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