Battle looms over mobile pay systems

China's thriving mobile payment market will witness a new battle for dominance between Apple Inc and its local smartphone rivals, with industry insiders anticipating a direct showdown between Apple Pay and a home-grown digital wallet service in late 2015.

Analysts said the Android Pay project, which is led by Shanghai-based bankcard association China UnionPay, will have widespread support from Chinese handset vendors.

These vendors sell about 300 million Android operating system-based phones each year in the country.