<p>As the largest credit card issuer in the world, Citibank has become the first foreign bank to launch a sole-branded credit card in China. Anyone with a monthly salary above 3,500 yuan can apply for such cards.</p><br /><p>The new set of Citi credit cards offers a total of five cards in two categories and are now available in 13 cities. Each card offers only a single currency, using Unionpay for RMB, and Visa or MasterCard for US dollars.</p><br /><p>Citibank says its points and miles will never expire and that they expect China to be the largest credit market in the world by the end of the decade.</p><br /><p>Citibank got approval to issue its own China credit cards in February and the decision was part of a government plan to make the banking market more competitive. </p><br /><p>Foreign banks only account for less than 2 percent of China's banking services, so experts say the foreign banks' increased involvement in credit card services won’t be a threat to domestic banks.</p><br /><p>According to the Central Bank, 300 million credit cards had been issued in China as of June, which is a 17.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year.</p>
