BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese families show robust demand for consumer credit, a recent study showed.

In 2019, 16.2 percent of Chinese families had demand for consumer credit, 2.5 percentage points higher than the family participation rate of consumer credit, according to a report released by the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics (SWUFE) and the research institution of Ant Financial Services Group.

About 12.5 percent of families in first-tier cities and 13.1 percent of families in second-tier cities had demand for consumer credit while the figure in lower-tier cities stood at 19.8 percent.

Families in less developed cities have a stronger demand for consumer credit, said Gan Li, a professor from the SWUFE.

Consumer credit has a remarkable effect on promoting the growth of family consumption, which was not found in investment credit, said the report.