NEW YORK, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- U.S. payment and technology company Mastercard announced on Friday that it plans to present application for a bankcard clearing license in China in the near future, in a bid to break into the Chinese market.

"China remains a vital market for us and we look forward to working with the Chinese government and local partners in growing and developing the overall payments ecosystem in the long-term," Ling Hai, co-president, Asia Pacific at Mastercard, said in a public statement.

The credit card heavyweight, based in New York State, is among the latest U.S. companies to set foot on the Chinese market, after American Express (AmEx) gained preliminary approval from People's Bank of China in November last year, which allowed AmEx to set up its payments network in China.

"We are committed to improving the safety, security and convenience of payments in day-to-day life, which is a key priority for China," Ling said.

Shares of Mastercard extended solid gains on Friday, up 1.58 percent when the closing bell of the U.S. stock markets rang, as empowered by its latest global expansion moves.

The company also announced a deal to buy British payments company Earthport for roughly 305 million U.S. dollars.

With Mastercard's bank distribution, technology, reach and experience as a global network, the company believed it would allow Earthport to accelerate development of a more robust account-to-account, cross-border network service, Mastercard said on Friday.