Financial Inclusion in China: Use of Credit

Limited access to credit can cause financial vulnerability for a household and economic loss for a country. Previous studies have shown that only small portions of the population in developing countries had access to formal credit, and few of them focused on Chinese populations. Using data from 2011 China Household Financial Studies, this study explores Chinese households’ credit use. We found that over half of the sample (53.21%) used credit, and only 19.77% used formal credit. Use of formal credit was associated with socioeconomic characteristics of household heads (e.g., employment, education) and households (e.g., income, net worth). The findings suggest that promoting financial inclusion in China involves expanding access to formal credit among the socially and economically disadvantaged households.