SHANGHAI, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- China UnionPay, the country's sole bank card network operator, Monday said transactions surged to a new record high during the week-long Spring Festival holiday as card holders went on a spending spree.
The total transactions through China UnionPay network soared 71.4 percent from last year's Chinese Lunar New Year holiday to 1.16 trillion yuan (171 billion U.S. dollars) between Feb. 4 and 10, the Shanghai-based agency said.
Card owners' sharp increases in spending on entertainment and cultural activities and tourism were the bright spots in the holiday spending spree, said Chen Han, analyst with China UnionPay.
The spending on sports and entertainment both more than doubled and that on tourism surged over 90 percent. The countries and regions along the Belt and Road were the new hot tourist destinations.
The spending on jewelry also rose over 90 percent.
The transaction value through its mobile payment service during the holiday soared 4.4 times, it said.
In addition, the spending by its overseas card holders in China rose over 20 percent as more of its overseas clients came to China.
A single purchase
