The number of individual bank accounts in China rose 9.6 percent from a year earlier to more than 2.2 billion during the first quarter of 2008, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a report released Tuesday.

On average, each Chinese citizen had 1.69 bank accounts, said the report.

The number of individual bank account per capita in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen was far more than the national average, it said.

Through March, the number stood at 7.03 in Beijing, 6.02 in Shenzhen, 5.71 in Shanghai and 3.45 in Tianjin.

The numbers in economically-developed Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and Fujian provinces and Beijing accounted for more than 41 percent of the nation's total.

The report said despite the freak winter which paralyzed transport and production in some southern regions, the national payment system remained stable and effective to support the fast and steady development of the country's economy.

(Xinhua News Agency June 25, 2008)