China UnionPay bank card went to France when the company’s chairman, Liu Tinghuan, used his card in Le Printemp, a famous department store in Paris, according to a Chinanews.cn report on April 4.
China UnionPay initially launched its new services in some of the city's most famous stores including Le Printemps and Les Galeries Lafayette. UnionPay plans to extend its service network to other areas of France, with an eye to open 1,000 service points by the end of this year.
Liu said that the card's first French "outing" had not only displayed the significant achievement in the cooperation between China UnionPay and France Crédit Agricole Group but also indicated the level of cooperation between China and France in banking matters and the fact that new areas of businesses could be investigated.
He said that the initiative would provide faster, more secure and convenient payment services and promote further development of exchanges between the two countries.
Liu Yongchun, vice president of China UnionPay, Zhao Jinjun, Chinese ambassador to France, Chairman René Carron and CEO Georges Pauget of Crédit Agricole Group attended a ceremony when the card was used for the first time in France.
It's reported that since 2004 China UnionPay has opened services in around 18 countries and regions including South Korea, United States, Thailand, Singapore, Germany and Japan as well as China's Hong Kong, Macao. A total of 550 million cards have been issued.
(China.org.cn by Wang Ke, April 5, 2006)
