The launch of UnionPay operations allows Chinese citizens and companies to use their bank cards without impediment for withdrawing cash at the ATMs of Serbian state-run lender Banka Postanska Stedionica, Tabakovic said in a video file posted on the website of news agency Tanjug on Monday.

Banka Postanska Stedionica is also expected to be the first Serbian bank to allow payments with UnionPay cards at POS terminals across Serbia, Tabakovic added.

In September, Serbia's central bank said it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China UnionPay to launch cooperation between the card payment systems of the two countries. With the MoU, the Serbian DinaCard system will gain access to cutting-edge payment technologies and standards and the retail network of UnionPay, consisting of over 41 million merchants and 2.1 million ATMs in over 160 countries globally, the NBS said back in September.

China UnionPay, established in 2002, is by far the largest card payment system in the world, with over 6.5 billion issued cards, concentrating more than 54% of the global market.