BEIJING: Apple Inc and China’s state-owned credit card processor announced plans on Friday to launch the smartphone-based Apple Pay electronic payment system in China. Apple and China UnionPay said they plan to roll out the system in early 2016, pending approval by regulators. China’s biggest shopping season comes ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins on February 8. Apple Pay is a late arrival in a Chinese electronic payments market dominated by Alipay, an arm of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, which accounts for about 80 per cent of transactions. The system will allow UnionPay cardholders to make payments via Apple iPhones, Apple Watches and iPads. Apple and UnionPay said they have pacts with 15 Chinese banks to support the system.