PayPalEarlier announcementAfter completing the acquisition of approximately 70% of the shares of Guofubao Information Technology Co., Ltd., a third-party payment company under HNA Group, through its Chinese subsidiary, Bank of America Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., it officially became the first foreign payment institution to enter China's online payment services.
Currently, the Chinese payment market is dominated by Tencent's WeChat Pay and Alibaba's Alipay. PayPal's acquisition of Guofubao to join the competition in China's payment market clearly reflects its interest in the vast payment services market. PayPal also expects to leverage its existing payment technology to create a convenient online transaction platform, which is expected to further attract consumers and businesses both within and outside of China.
After the acquisition is approved by the People's Bank of China (PBOC), PayPal expects to complete the transaction in the fourth quarter of this year, but did not disclose specific transaction details.
PayPal currently offers services in over 200 countries and regions, boasts over 2.86 million active users, and supports transactions in over 100 currencies worldwide. The approval of its acquisition of Guofubao, which will allow it to provide online transaction services in China, is primarily based on the People's Bank of China's announcement last year that it would open up to foreign third-party electronic payment services, thereby promoting competition in the retail payments market.
