Hot on the the heels of Apple announcing a partnership with UnionPay in China to launch Apple Pay in the country early next year, Samsung has also gone ahead and announced its partnership with the bankcard association. Like Apple, Samsung will now also be launching its mobile payment service, Samsung Pay, in China in early 2016.

The partnership will allow owners of Samsung Pay compatible devices and UnionPay users to pay at QuickPass supported point-of-sale terminals through their smartphone using Samsung Pay.

Chai Hongfeng, Executive Vice President of China UnionPay, said: “With the development of the mobile payment industry, China UnionPay is committed to open cooperation with other parties in the industry to provide more secure and more convenient products and services for consumers. This cooperation between China UnionPay and Samsung will combine the strengths of the former in payment and the expertise of the latter in mobile terminals to jointly create brand new mobile payment experience for consumers, and to further expand the user base of UnionPay QuickPass brand. “

For now, Samsung Pay is supported on the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, Galaxy S6 edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5. The newly launched Galaxy A (2016) series of smartphones from Samsung also support the company’s mobile payment service.