Holiday bolsters China UnionPay transactions

Card payment giant China UnionPay saw its online transactions surging during the first seven days of the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Online payments made via the banking card organization reached 2.16 trillion yuan (US$318 billion), an increase of 6.3 percent year on year. Transaction volume on the first day of the national holiday exceeded 330 billion yuan, up 15.5 percent over the same day last year.

Tourism, shopping and dining have been the main drivers of holiday consumption, China UnionPay noted.

Long-distance travel has been particularly popular during the holiday. Tibet, Xinjiang and Ningxia were the regions with the fastest year-on-year growth in consumption during the first seven days, said Chen Han, senior director of the Big Data Department at China UnionPay.

In terms of spending related to air, rail and car travel, Hunan, Xinjiang and Shaanxi ranked among the top three areas; while Tibet, Qinghai and Inner Mongolia had the fastest year-on-year growth in tourism-related consumption, such as hotel accommodation, travel agencies and ticket sales in scenic spots, with growth rates generally exceeding 10 percent.