The People's Bank of China has published a report saying that it has issued licenses for non-financial institutions to operate payment businesses to 27 companies, including Alipay.com.

Sino Payments Inc. has received a five-year service agreement to provide electronic funds processing for Sogo Department Stores in Hong Kong.

The British retail giant Tesco PLC has announced plans to establish a joint venture with a financial group to develop shopping centers in China.

China UnionPay and American Express announced that they have signed a memorandum of understanding that calls for both companies to explore the expansion of their current cooperative activities.

China's B2B e-commerce group Alibaba and Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank have reached a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement to jointly provide services to small- and medium-sized enterprises as well as farmers in rural areas in China.

Global Payments Asia-Pacific Limited has become the first foreign payment card processor to launch China UnionPay card acquiring service in China.