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Mobile payment

China UnionPay set up its headquarters in Shanghai in 2002. The launching of UnionPay International is expected to attract more resources to Shanghai to help the city become an international financial center, said Tu.

China UnionPay currently has a share of more than 20 percent in the global payment market in term of business volume and is among one of the top three payment card brands in the world, according to the ACNielsen report.

To expand its market share, China UnionPay's recent efforts to develop more channels are reaching into mobile payment, including Near Field Communication technology-backed payment methods, in which transactions can be conducted by swiping a cellphone across a screen.

On Feb 23, China Mobile, the world's largest mobile network operator, and China UnionPay announced they had completed integration of their Near Field Communication "trusted service manager" platforms.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China now has more than 1 billion mobile phone subscribers, from which will emerge a large market for mobile payment enabled by integration of bank cards and mobile phones.

China UnionPay is working with France's Gemalto to build a secure mobile Near Field Communication ecosystem that will make mobile phones safe carriers for the billing of transactions.

"It's a natural way forward to develop mobile payment in a society with a huge demand for time-saving transaction without the need to key in a PIN or give a signature," said Wu Chaohua, a 26-year-old Shanghai programmer who said he will buy the "mobile phone wallet" service as soon as it is launched in China.

wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn