Apple Pay Plans Expansion to China in February: WSJ

Apple Pay has reportedly made plans to launch in China by early February. 

The Silicon Valley tech giant has struck deals with China's big four state-run banks that would allow customers to link their bank accounts to their Apple mobile wallets, The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday.

Regulatory requirements could prove problematic still, since a number of Chinese government agencies oversee banking and e-commerce activity in the country.

Neither Apple nor the banks have commented. Apple plans to launch before Feb. 8, the WSJ said.

China would be Apple Pay's fifth country since it launched in the U.S. last year. Last week it launched in

Australia and Canada and earlier this year it debuted in the U.K. Apple has previously spoken about launching in Singapore and Hong Kong by 2016.