Chinese consumers' transactions on UnionPay defied the economic slowdown to set a record during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, with shopping, dinning and travelling accounting for most of the splurge, the company announced.

UnionPay revealed that the long holiday between Feb. 7 and 13 saw several mainlanders use their debit and credit cards for an estimated 307 transactions (a 15 percent increase), amounting to as much as 312.1 billion yuan ($47.6 billion) - a 31 percent year-on-year increase. 

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Meanwhile, card-based spending on supermarket, household appliances and general good experienced an aggressive increase of up to 41, 22 and 13 percent, respectively. While in restaurants, card payments saw a 6 percent growth to 5 billion yuan, with an average spending of 585 yuan. In terms of catering services, the cities of Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu and Shanghai are leading the list.

According to China UnionPay data analyst Chen Han, during holidays, people tend to dine in luxurious restaurants and to spend more than usual. 

Aside from spending on retails and dining, travelling is also popular. The company has reported an increase in aviation ticket sales by 39 percent, railway by 39 percent and highway transportation by 98 percent. Another distinct change noted is consumers' spending at gas stations, with a robust growth of 39 percent, showing that some people still opt to drive and travel with their own vehicle. 

On the other hand, a report revealing the use of credit and debit cards overseas revealed that most Chinese tourists spend their holiday trips in nations along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21-st Century Maritime Silk Road, such as Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Tags UnionPay, china, debit cards, Credit Cards, Spring festival, holiday