Apple has now included China's Alipay as one of its payment method options for iTunes.

Apple's most recent iOs 10.1.1 update discretely rolled out Alibaba's digital wallet to its payment platform, according to Mashable citing Chinese local media reports. This means, users can now buy games, music, and movies using their Alipay accounts.

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The move follows just after app intelligence firm App Annie revealed that China is now Apple iOs' largest market, surpassing the United States that held the top spot since 2010.

Before Alipay, Chinese users need to add their China UnionPay credit cards to make a purchase on their iTunes account. The recent addition of Alipay on Apple's list of payment options shows that Apple is hoping to offer ease and comfort for its Chinese customers to splurge some cash on the App Store.

The new option, however, is only available for Chinese users for now.

Meanwhile, the move is part of Alipay's ambition to become a global payments provider over the next decade, with more than half (60%) of its transaction volume coming overseas.

"We are targeting 2 billion users in the next 10 years," Sabrina Peng, Alipay International's president, was quoted saying in a recent interview.

The company recently teamed up with First Data to expand its mobile payment app service into the United States. Under the partnership, retailers that offer Alipay will utilized First Data's Clover Mini point-of-sale solution to accept Alipay. The newest mode of payment is expected to roll out this month on select retail outlets in California and New York.

Tagsapple, Alipay, digital payment platform, iOS, App Store, iTunes, China UnionPay, Alipay payment, mobile app payment