China plans to expand the use of bank cards to all commercial districts, star-rated hotels and travel resorts in big and mid-sized cities, targeting 30 percent of retail sales in three years, the central bank said.

At least 60 percent of stores with annual sales of more than one million yuan (HK$943,000) should accept bank cards by end 2008, People's Bank of China said in an industry guidance on its Web site. The guidance, published jointly by nine government bodies, said China will roll out tax incentives and lower transmission costs to promote the use of bank cards.

China's consumers are increasing the use of bank cards for shopping and dining, while foreign and domestic lenders are wooing card holders in a market with US$1.5 trillion (HK$11.7 trillion) in household savings. Most cards are debit cards, linked to savings accounts, which can't be used to buy goods on credit.

``China's card business is developing rapidly, with card issuance jumping, and usage environment greatly improved,'' the central bank said.

``However, the industry is still in its infantry.''

China will have about 75 million credit cards that can be used in the international market by 2010, from more than three million currently, according to a forecast by MasterCard, the world's second-biggest credit-card company.

China also plans to expand the overseas network where local currency cards can be accepted. China Unionpay, which operates the country's national bank card payment system, will expand use of its cards to at least 10 countries by the end of the year, and to all major nations by the end of 2006, Xinhua said.

The government will also tighten rules for foreign institutions to carry out card processing and related business in the country, on security concerns, according to the PBOC guidelines.

Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and American Express are among foreign institutions that have begun partnerships in China to start credit card businesses. China's per capita disposable incomes in urban areas, home to a third of the nation's 1.3 billion people, rose 11 percent from a year earlier to 2,938 yuan in the first quarter, the statistics bureau said. Rural incomes increased 16 percent to 967 yuan. Retail sales rose 14 percent to 1.5 trillion yuan. BLOOMBERG