China eases market access for foreign payment firms

BEIJING - China's central bank on Wednesday laid out the rules for foreign-invested payment firms over market access and supervision, in a bid to open up its payment service market and encourage competition.

Overseas companies providing e-payment services are required to set up foreign-invested businesses in China and acquire payment services licenses, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in its online statement.

These firms are required to have secure, regulated transaction and recovery systems in China with the capacity of processing payment services individually, according to the PBOC.

According to the statement, client data and other financial information originated and collected in China must be stored, processed and analyzed within the domestic area.

Foreign-invested payment firms should abide by Central Bank regulations in their corporate governance, operation and risk management, according to the PBOC.

China's payment service market has grown rapidly, with transactions processed by domestic payment firms soaring, PBOC data showed.

From 2013 to 2017, the value of transactions galloped to 169 trillion yuan (about $26.7 trillion) from 18 trillion yuan.

Easing the market access for foreign-invested payment parties will help to optimize the industrial structure and speed up reform and opening up of the sector, a PBOC official said.