U.S. officials pressed China to improve market access for American financial firms, including Mastercard and Citigroup, during bilateral meetings held in Bangkok on the sidelines of G20 finance meetings and the IMF-World Bank annual gathering this week. These talks are part of implementing agreements reached during President Trump and Xi Jinping’s meeting in Washington last month. China already approved in October Visa’s plan to create a wholly owned domestic card clearing business, with up to a year to prepare before applying for an operating license. Mastercard currently operates in China through a local joint venture with NetsUnion Clearing Corp., launched in 2024, and is seeking approval to operate independently. Citigroup, which has hired several dozen employees for its China unit, filed a request in late 2021 for a wholly owned securities license to conduct A-share brokerage, underwriting, research and principal trading businesses in the onshore market.
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