Alipay, one of the largest independent third-party payment service providers in China, has formally reached an agreement with Marui Company, one of the oldest department stores in Japan.

According to Chinese online shopping platform Taobao.com, the company is currently deploying offline retail kiosks and payment points across China to complement the over 4,000 locations it has already opened in Beijing in such supermarkets and convenience stores as Vanguard, Lianhua and Hi-24.

Chain convenience store group 7-Eleven has jointly announced with China UnionPay the launch of a financial service plan, providing China UnionPay's standard card users in Guangdong with a series of convenient payment services.

Amazon.cn has announced plans to cooperate with Alipay, an online payment provider and sister company of Amazon.cn's competitor Taobao.com — which is owned by Alibaba.com.