The one-third of China’s recent university graduates who are still without jobs are less likely to find themselves offered credit cards, as the impact is starting to be felt of a mid-July government order to banks to more strictly control personal credit. China Citic Bank told China Daily at the end of July that only 30 percent of applications were being approved, less than half the number a few months ago. “In a notice sent to Chinese commercial lenders in mid-July, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, or CBRC, the country’s top banking watchdog, ordered banks to tighten credit card issuance practices and carefully appraise credit ratings before issuing cards to applicants.” The country at the end of June reported a quarterly 133 percent increase in outstanding credit card payments that were more than six months overdue, compared to Q2 in 2008. China is traditionally a cash society with a strong tendency to save, and therefore with little experience of managing personal debt: despite concerns about payment problems China still has only 0.11 credit cards per person, compared to 4.39 in the US and 0.96 in Brazil, according to Xinhua. China Daily, Reuters

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