(Yicai Global) Nov. 21 -- UnionPay International, a subsidiary of China UnionPay Co., signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Banco Comercial Portugues SA [ELI:BCP] (BCP), Portugal's largest listed bank and a subsidiary of Fosun International Ltd. [HK:0656], to cooperate in banking services including the application and issuing of UnionPay cards and the popularization of innovative payment solutions in Europe, the Securities Times reported. Both parties inked the deal during the 2017 Bund Global Financial Summit in Shanghai yesterday.

BCP's services cover a large geography including Portugal, Poland, and Switzerland in Europe and Mozambique and Angola in Africa. Under the deal, BCP will introduce UnionPay services in its banking business in the above-mentioned countries and Portuguese-speaking regions.

Fosun International invested in BCP as the largest listed bank in Portugal and became its largest strategic shareholder in 2016, publicly available information shows.

The deal marks introduction of UnionPay cards in those countries by an European financial institution. As a leading commercial and private bank in Portugal, BCP will play a demonstrative role for more European institutions to cooperate with UnionPay to issue its bank cards, said Wang Lixin, vice president of UnionPay International.