Low level of personal investment

A poll of urban residents conducted by market research firm AC Nielsen found that only 20 per cent owned
a credit card, although twice that proportion said they were interested in using one. The
survey of 18-54-year-olds in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou revealed that only 29 per
cent of respondents had bought life insurance policies, while a quarter had made personal
investments.
Less than 10 per cent had borrowed money from banks over the past year,
while 80 per cent said they had bank deposits. Nearly half of the 2,500 people polled said
the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China provided most of their banking ser-vices.
HSBC and Citibank were the best -known foreign banks, although only 70 per cent could
name an overseas-funded bank.