UnionPay: Chinese overseas spending surges in 2011

BEIJING - Su Ning, board chairman of China UnionPay Co Ltd - the country's only credit card network, and a former deputy governor of China's central bank, said on Tuesday that overseas consumption from China continued to surge dramatically last year.

Chinese residents spent 300 billion yuan ($47.54 billion) overseas through bank cards in 2011, up by 66.7 percent from the 180 billion yuan consumption in 2010.

"Given that a considerable amount of Chinese consumers prefer to use cash when purchasing goods, the total overseas spending figure would be astonishing," he said.

Su is also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He made the remarks while attending a group discussion under CPPCC.