BEIJING: Mastercard Inc won approval to set up a bank card clearing business in China, gaining access to a US$27 trillion payments market as part of the nation’s financial opening.
Mastercard called the decision “encouraging”, with China being one of its most important markets. Further approval will also be needed after the preparations are over, it said in a statement. As part of the trade deal, Chinese regulators said they would take no longer than 90 days to consider applications from providers of electronic-payments services such as Mastercard, Visa Inc and American Express Co Mastercard set up its majority-owned joint venture nearly a year ago.