UAE central bank partners with China's UnionPay

The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and UnionPay International (UPI) of China said Sunday they have signed a deal for linking with UAE-Switch, a service that connects ATMs across the Gulf Arab country, state news agency WAM reported.

The agreement was signed to allow the use of UnionPay cards at all ATMs connected to the service, according to the report.

The deal was inked by deputy governor of the UAE Central Bank Mohammed Ali Bin Zayed Al-Falasi and China UnionPay President Shi Wenchao.

Falasi expressed delight on this joint cooperation as the number of Chinese citizens, residents, tourists and business people is steadily increasing year on year.

The agreement will allow UnionPay card holders access to over 4,800 ATMs in the UAE, he added.

There are 350,000 Chinese nationals living in the UAE and over 4,000 Chinese businesses are operating in the Gulf state. Dubai alone attracted last year 25 percent more tourists from China than in the previous year.

In 2013, a total of 275,675 visitors from China came to Dubai, according to the official tourism body DCTCM.