China opens up card transactions 05 November 2014 4:50PM Ian Rogers and Shereel Patel MasterCard and Visa will get a long-desired shot at China's domestic cards market, following an announcement by China's cabinet, the State Council, that it would allow foreign companies that meet its criteria to set up their own clearing operations.The Council did not provide further details.In July 2012, the World Trade Organisation upheld a complaint by the United States that China was discriminating against US bank card suppliers in its electronic payments market by favouring state behemoth China UnionPay.Reuters reported that China's total outstanding credit card balances, although still less than ten per cent of household debt, were a third higher at the end of June than a year ago.