BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua)-- The People's Bank of China (PBoC) announced here on Wednesday that China National Advanced Payment System (CNAPS), with high-value payment system and bulk electronic payment system at the core, has been established.

 The high-value payment system (HVPS), as a key part of the advanced payment system, enables instant clearing across the banks nationwide and real-time inter-bank bond transactions, Su Ning, deputy president of the PBoC, said at a press conference on China's financial service reform.

PBoC statistics shows that in the first half of 2007, HVPS processed 650,000 inter-bank transactions with a value of 1.6 trillion yuan.

According to Su, the bulk electronic payment system (BEPS) mainly processes services closely related to the general public, such as salary distribution and payment of water, electricity, gas and other utilities.

"The payment system realizes nationwide deposit and cash withdrawal, online or via-the-telephone inter-bank payments, which will facilitate the production and livelihood of the public," said Su.

He said the central bank has also been promoting the use of bankcards, and nearly 1.3 billion bank cards had been issued.

By the end of 2006, the yuan-denominated Union-Pay cards have become accepted in 26 countries and regions.