Another partnership is looking to introduce a mobile payment service in the Chinese market. This time it's handset-maker ZTE Corp. and payment card powerhouse China UnionPay.

A source from ZTE told Caixin Online that ZTE will release a mobile phone model featuring NFC technology next year. ZTE and UnionPay signed an agreement last month to cooperate in developing applications and technology to provide mobile payment services.

The Chinese market, the world's largest mobile phone market, is ripe for development of mobile payment technologies. Last year China UnionPay announced that it will partner with wireless carrier China Mobile Ltd. to offer a mobile payment product this year.

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