Apple Inc is in talks with Chinese banks and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on launching the firm's mobile payments system in China, Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook told the Xinhua News Agency in an interview published on Tuesday.
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"We very much want to get Apple Pay in China," Cook told Xinhua during a visit to Beijing, "I'm very bullish on Apple Pay in China."
Apple could not immediately be reached about the report.
Apple Pay, which allows consumers using Apple devices to buy goods by holding the device up to readers installed by store merchants, was launched in the US in September 2014 and quickly began to handle more transactions than all other "contact-less" payment methods combined, Apple said.
Cook said he believed it could take off even faster in China.
Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma Yun said in October that the Chinese e-commerce giant was open to working with Apple on Apple Pay.
Alibaba affiliate Alipay is China's largest payments service.
Analysts expect China to take over the Americas to become Apple's biggest market. In the first three months of the year, for the first time, Apple sold more iPhones in China than in the U.S.
The firm hopes to keep adding stores in China to 40 by next year.
"Forty is a good objective for us for mid-next year," said Cook, "That is not where we want to end. We'll keep adding from there."
Apple currently has 22 retail stores in China since the first one opened its doors in Beijing in 2008.
Apple Watch is another of his concerns. Cook said Apple Watch is a "perfect" product in one of the most popular categories right now.
However, he did not disclose the sales figures for the Apple Watch, which started on April 24.
