(Yicai Global) Jan. 14 -- China's central bank the People's Bank of China has given the thumbs up to China Telecom BestPay's A-round funding plan, the company announced, but without giving dates. 

New investors Qianhai FoF,  China Securities Co.  [SHA:601066；HKG:6066] ,  Dongxing Securities Co. [SHA:601198] ,  and CGN Capital Holdings have also come on board,  per the announcement.

China Telecom BestPay Co. -- also called Orange Finance -- is a wholly-owned unit of Beijing-based China Telecom. It formed in 2011 and obtained its payment business license that same year for internet services, mobile and fixed telephone payments, bank cards, prepaid cards and other payment processing.

Its app had attracted over 500 million users as of December 2018. It is China's third-largest payment platform operator after the Alipay of Hangzhou's Alibaba Group Holding and the WeChat Pay of Shenzhen-headquartered Tencent Holdings.

Editor: Ben Armour