THE CHINA UNIONPAY BRAND AND THE

This paper discusses how the Chinese diaspora has influenced the internationalisation of a new brand emerging from mainland China. This brand is the YinLian acceptance marque of ChinaUnionPay (CUP), a plastic card payments organisation, created by the Chinese government and positioned as an alternative to the more widely known payment card acceptance marques of American Express, MasterCard and Visa. Initially established in mainland China, the YinLian acceptance marque is now being promoted by CUP in countries outside of China, particularly those where the Chinese diaspora is concentrated and/or where outbound tourism from China makes them a popular destination. The concept of ‘guanxi’ is central to the development of trust in the Chinese culture and it is this relationship that is underpinning the internationalisation of the YinLian acceptance marque, as Chinese card holders are being encouraged to trust their CUP brand, in preference to that of the ‘foreign’ acceptance marques. Research conducted in China and reported on in this paper validates the desire of affluent Chinese who do travel overseas to use payment cards in preference to cash and this can only assist in the internationalisation of the YinLian marquee. Some pointers for further research are given, in what is an ever developing situation and attention is drawn to the need to understand the cultural differences that characterise the Chinese approach to marketing.