Foreign companies like PayPal and Visa can apply to operate in China
Companies fought for years for full access to Chinese market
China is spelling out the rules for foreign payment companies to enter its massive market, finally giving companies like PayPal and Visa a potential route in.
Any overseas firm that wants to apply for a licence must establish local operations and have a secure payment system. The central bank says all client data collected in China should be stored and processed in domestic servers.
It’s a major step by China, which has promised to open the industry up after the World Trade Organization ruled it was discriminating against foreign players in 2012.
Unlike PayPal or Visa, Apple Pay’s failure has more to do with its technology rather than regulatory bureaucracy.
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