As of October 2010, China held $907 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds. If China lends money to the American government, why can’t Citigroup lend to the Chinese populace?
It turns out, now they are. According to Lowcards.com, “Citigroup has become the first international bank to issue a solely-branded credit card in China. This represents a significant accomplishment in what is eventually expected to become the world’s largest credit card market.”
Research group RNCOS says the Chinese market for credit has seen “explosive growth over the past few years,” and that’s continuing: “The total number of credit cards in China will grow at a [compound annual growth rate] of around 31 percent during 2011-2014.”
The country’s on track to become a bigger credit market than the United States “in terms of number of cards during the next decade, as increasing wealth and urbanization will allow Chinese consumers to spend more through plastic money.”
I guess we better get started on the Chinese language version of Money Talks News…
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