Statistics show that Chinese residents charged $133 billion overseas using credit cards last year, including $83.6 billion just in Hong Kong, Macao, the United States, Japan, South Korea and a few other countries and regions.

Cash withdrawals from credit cards were the second most common type of overseas transaction. In 2015, Chinese residents withdrew $23.1 billion from cards while overseas, accounting for 17 percent of total credit card spending abroad. Since the beginning of last October, the number of overseas credit card withdrawals has been gradually declining.

In addition, according to statistics from the Foreign Exchange Bureau, Chinese residents prefer using credit cards for big expenses such as accommodations, catering, transportation and education, which all together accounted for 20 percent of overseas credit card spending.

Chinese residents spent $6 billion on accommodation, $3.6 billion on transportation, $2.6 billion on food and beverages, and $1.9 billion on education last year using credit cards abroad.

In China, domestic banks continue to improve offshore credit card services, which provide a strong boost to the spending power of Chinese people abroad. This boost has a very clear effect, as can be seen through the healthy growth of China’s outbound tourism, study abroad and overseas shopping. An official with the Foreign Exchange Bureau said that, in the future, Chinese residents' overseas credit card spending is likely to maintain rapid growth.