Apple Pay has been launched in China on Thursday in a bid to tap into the lucrative market for mobile payment service created by China's 1 billion population.

According to Apple Pay's Vice President Jennifer Bailey, the company believes that China is its largest market.

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The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the country's biggest lender, was one of the banks that revealed earlier this week that clients can start using Apple Pay from Thursday.

Meanwhile, Apple Pay has admitted that so far, the company is experiencing a rough sail in China, which is the fifth country to get the service. Even in the United States, Apple has to deal with incredulous retailers in its effort to create a new revenue stream.

Marbridge Consulting founder Mark Natkin that better experiences are what most users consider before switching applications; thus, Apple should be able to come up with not only a secure, but also an easier platform.

In terms of revenue, the People's Republic is the second biggest market for Apple and also the largest smartphone market in the world. Last year, nearly 360 million people, which is more than the number of US population, started using mobile phones to buy goods and pay for services, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

A majority of these users utilized China's two mobile payment giants namely Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat Payment and Alibaba Group's Alipay. One retailer, who refused to be named, said that "With 100 percent saturation of local payment systems, no one in China is clamoring for Apple Pay."

Apple's digital wallet has partnered with 19 of the biggest lenders in China. This implies that an estimated 80 percent of the credit and debit cards in the country are eligible for Apple Pay, making it useful in nearly a third of all locations that accept cards, Bailey explained.

Peking University Guanghua School of Management professor of finance Zhao Longkai said that the coming of Apple Pay can potentially alter the strategic landscape. This can be a chance for UnionPay to defend its market, which it is about to lose to Tencent or Alibaba. However, he emphasized that Apple Pay should first how to win the hearts of the Chinese consumers.

Tagsapple pay, apple, china, mobile payment service, WeChat, UnionPay