Photo/Shetuwang

Dec. 20 (NBD) -- U.S.-based payment provider PayPal Holdings, Inc. ("PayPal", NASDAQ: PYPL) announced on Thursday (ET) that it has completed the acquisition of a 70 percent stake in China's Guofubao Information Technology Co., Ltd. ("GoPay").

Upon the close of the deal, PayPal becomes the first foreign platform licensed to provide online payment services on the mainland of China.

Founded in 2011, GoPay functions similarly to PayPal, allowing merchants to accept payments straight from their websites.

PayPal's successful access to the Chinese mainland market may benefit from the country's measures to open up its financial sector.

The People's Bank of China said in a report last month that since 2018, it had been working with relevant departments to speed up the opening-up process, such as continuously lifting access restrictions on foreign institutions in credit, rating, payments and other domains.

China's payment market now is led by local players, including eWallet providers like Alibaba's AliPay and Tencent's WeChat Pay. The digital payment in the country is predicted to grow by double-digit rates over the next few years, according to a study by French technology consulting firm Capgemini and banking group BNP Paribas.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn