BEIJING - Consumer confidence of Chinese bank card holders fell in October amid continuing inflationary pressure and an interest rate hike by China's central bank, according to an index reading released Tuesday.The Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index (BCCI), compiled by Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay, a Chinese association for banking card industry in China, dropped to 85.69 in October, down 0.63 points from September.Compared with the same month last year, the October BCCI figure was down 1.69 points.According to the BCCI report, Chinese increased their spending on essential items due to rising prices, with the average amount of per bank card transaction on essential items shooting up 17 percent from September, without giving a specific number.The National Bureau of Statistics is to release the October consumer price index (CPI) figure this week and many economists expect the CPI to rise 4.1 percent year on year. The CPI figure soared to a 23-month high at 3.6 percent in September.
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