Apple Inc. on Thursday launched its smartphone-based payment system in China where the electronic payments market is already dominated by an arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Apple said "Apple Pay" could be used by 19 banks, "numerous merchants" and app developers. Apple’s electronic payment system started in the United States in October 2014 and has since spread to Britain, Canada and Australia.

The merchants include supermarket Carrefour, McDonald’s and KFC, and convenience store 7-Eleven, according to a news release Wednesday from China UnionPay.

Apple Pay is a late arrival in a Chinese electronic payments market that offers smartphone users not just online shopping but also the option to order taxis, send money to friends, pay bills and invest in wealth management funds.

The market is dominated by Alipay, an arm of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. WeChat Payment, operated by social networking and gaming company Tencent Holdings Ltd, is also popular.Apple’s system will allow UnionPay cardholders to make payments via Apple iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads.

本周四，苹果公司的智能手机支付系统正式登录中国。中国的电子支付市场早已被电商巨头阿里巴巴一手遮天。

苹果官方称：“苹果支付”已经与19家中国银行、数家零售商以及软件开发商展开了合作。苹果电子支付系统于2014年10月开始在美国运行，随后扩展至英国、加拿大和澳大利亚。

中国银联周三发布新闻，宣布与苹果合作的零售商包括家乐福超市、麦当劳、肯德基、7-11便利店等。

苹果支付进入中国市场较晚，因为中国的电子支付市场已经可以为智能手机用户提供包括网上购物、网上打车、朋友转账、支付和基金投资等服务。

中国电子支付市场已经被电商巨头阿里巴巴集团旗下的“支付宝”所统治。社交游戏公司腾讯旗下的微信支付也十分受欢迎。苹果支付系统能使银联卡持有者通过苹果手机、苹果手表和平板电脑实现支付。