Apple Pay officially launches in China - CNET

Apple Pay has landed in its fifth country, one that offers great opportunities but some significant challenges.

Apple on Wednesday announced the launch of Apple Pay in China on its Developer page as well as through the Weibo account of CEO Tim Cook. Chinese consumers will now be able to use the service to purchase items at supported retailers using their iPhones and Apple Watches.

The ability to pay for goods via a smartphone has been around for years, especially in countries like China. Launched in 2014, Apple Pay helped kindle consumer interest in the concept. Apple faces competition from Samsung Pay and Google's Android Pay. Also looking to jump on the mobile payments bandwagon are banks such as JP Morgan and retailers such as Walmart.

Apple Pay is already being used in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. To gain more of a foothold, the service needs to expand to more countries. China represents a major coup as it's the world's largest smartphone market and Apple's second biggest market in terms of revenue.

Apple Pay faces key challenges at winning over Chinese consumers. Many of them already pay for items via their phones using services provided by one of the country's two major online companies: Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group. At the end of last year, 358 million Chinese had been paying for goods via their smartphones, Reuters reported on Thursday, which cited data from the China Inteet Network Information Center.