China UnionPay targets online payments market expansion Tuesday 5 May 2009 | 11:28 AM CET

Chinese credit card organization and interbank operator China UnionPay (CUP) aims to provide its online payment services to companies which are active in the Chinese e-commerce sector, Interfax China reports.

For this purpose, ChinaPay E-payment Service, CUP's online payments division, has become involved in negotiations for partnership purposes with various Chinese online retailers, including online book retailer Dangdang.com, B2C e-commerce company 360buy.com and Joyo Amazon. Furthermore, CUP has opened branches across the region and has signed agreements with banks across 61 countries and regions in order to tap into the online payments market.

According to Chinese consulting firm iResearch Consulting Group, revenues generated by internet payment transactions in China in Q1 2009 have reached USD 17.26 billion, growing 146.9 percent over Q1 2008.