(Yicai Global) Jan. 25 -- British payment solution provider WorldFirst has withdrawn its application for a license to conduct the direct-payment business in China, it said in a statement yesterday. 

This retreat is all the more surprising in that is the first foreign-funded institution to apply for such an authorization in the country.

It was also poised to strike an agreement for its acquisition with Hangzhou-based Ant Financial Services, UK media reported.

The London-based firm has applied to the Shanghai branch of the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, to withdraw its application for a license to ply the payment business via its Chinese operating unit Yuefan Business Information Consulting (Shanghai), per the statement on its official WeChat account, which added that business considerations prompted its reversal.

WorldFirst is an international payment solution provider that entered the Chinese market in 2010 and has been there ever since. 

Its main business in the country is helping medium and small-sized Chinese sellers with cross-border business-to-customer payment settlements for Amazon.Com and many other global e-commerce platforms.

China is still and will remain the essential pillar for its overall strategic development and will always be an important market for both its domestic and global clients, it said. 

The payment solution provider will continue to exploit its existing operating structure and strategic partnerships to offer both British and international customers comprehensive products and services in cooperation with Chinese banks and license-holding payment firms by taking advantage of its payment permits in many regions worldwide, WorldFirst added.

The central bank's Shanghai branch officially made public the payment business license application submitted by Yuefan Business Information Consulting on its website on July 27. The wholly-owned unit thus became the 'icebreaker' whose application was the first announced since PBOC's suspension of license issues at the end of 2015.

Yuefan formed in Lujiazui, Shanghai with registered capital of CNY100 million (USD14.7 million) and is wholly-owned by WorldFirst Asia. The company applied for licenses for internet-based and mobile phone payments.

WorldFirst's application was already canceled in November last year, however, online news outlet Jiemian reported. 

One possible reason for it backing away from its bid to become China's first licensed foreign-invested payment institution is that the company will soon strike an agreement on its acquisition by Ant Financial Services -- the financial arm of tech titan Alibaba Group Holding. 

Both parties have declined comment on the surmised buyout, however.

Ant Financial Services was in talks with WorldFirst and planned to scoop it up it for about USD700 million, British media Sky News reported in December. 

Editor: Ben Armour