The balance of credit card payments in China overdue by six months or more totaled 11.03 billion yuan at the end of 2011, an increase of 43.5 percent from end 2010, reports Shanghai Securities News, citing The Peoples’ Bank of China (PBOC).

Credit card accounts overdue by six months of more accounted for 1.4 percent of the total outstanding credit card debt, down 0.3 percentage point from end 2010. 

The total amount of credit granted to credit cards in China increased 30 percent from end 2010 to 2.6 trillion yuan at the end of last year.

According to the report, there was continued rapid growth in the credit card issuance volume, and the penetration rate of credit cards hit 38.6 percent last year, helping to drive retail consumption in China.