China credit cards grew by 23 pct in 2006 -c.bank

BEIJING, April 18 (Reuters) - The number of credit cards in China increased 22.7 percent in 2006 to nearly 50 million, the central bank said on Wednesday.

Both domestic and foreign banks, keen to tap the growing credit card market, have been competing to grab customers, with foreign banks including HSBC Holdings Plc. (HSBA.L) (0005.HK) and Citigroup (C.N) issuing joint cards with local partners.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement released at a news conference that the growth in credit cards resulted in part from promotions by card issuers.

Still, credit cards were dwarfed by bank debit cards, which numbered 1.08 billion at the end of 2006, the central bank said.

The PBOC said that transactions via debit and credit cards accounted for 17 percent of the country's retail sales in 2006.

In big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, total bank card transactions took up 30 percent of retail sales, which is on par with developed markets, the central bank said.