BEIJING, China — Apple Inc. and China's state-owned credit card processor have announced plans to launch the Apple Pay electronic payment system in China.

Apple and China UnionPay said Friday said they plan to roll out the system in early 2016, pending approval by Chinese regulators. They said they had agreements with 15 Chinese banks to support the service.

Apple Pay is a late arrival in a Chinese electronic payments market dominated by Alipay, an arm of the e-commerce giant Alibaba Group.