China Telecom, the country's third largest mobile operator, has launched a mobile wallet in partnership with more than 10 Chinese banks. The partners for its "E-Surfing Mobile Wallet" include Bank of China, The Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and China Merchants Bank, telecomasia.net reports.

China Telecom's mobile wallet will enable customers to pay for transportation, shopping and dining using an NFC-based smartphone. The carrier will begin issuing free UIM cards (universal interface module — the CDMA equivalent of SIM cards) that support NFC to its subscribers from Dec. 23, telecomasia.net said.

During 2014, China Telecom plans to issue 30 million NFC-compatible UIM cards and 40 different smartphone models that support its mobile wallet.

Leading Chinese mobile carriers China Mobile and China Unicom launched NFC payment services earlier in 2013.

Separately, Coindesk reports that subscribers of China Telecom's subsidiary Jiangsu Telecom in Jiangsu Province can now purchase Samsung smartphones using Bitcoin. Payments will be processed via Chinese processor BitBill, Coindesk says.

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