The credit card delinquency rate stayed at 2 percent in February despite the global economic downturn causing layoffs in many companies, said Yin Long, an official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), at a media briefing on Mar 12.

"Chinese consumers have such a great habit that whenever they owe someone money, they always try their best to pay back the debt as soon as possible," Yin said.

According to Fitch's Prime Credit Card Delinquency Index, the credit card delinquency rate in the US surged to a record 4.04 percent in February, trumping the 3.75 percent record set in the previous month.

The credit card delinquency rate measures credit card debt that is more than 60 days late.

At the same time, Yin suggested that China should establish new rules regarding credit card debt charge-offs, indicating that the payment is uncollectible. Credit card debt charge-offs currently are dealt with in the same way as bad loans write-offs in China, according to Yin.

Yin indicated that rules relating to credit card debt charge-offs are not under the jurisdiction of the CBRC.

(China Daily March 13, 2009)