Alipay, a Chinese online payment platform and a subsidiary of Alibaba Group, announced on Thursday that it has signed a cooperation agreement with New York based Philliou Selwanes Partners (PSP) to enable Chinese mainland consumers to buy directly from U.S. retailers.

According to the agreement, PSP will help to promote the acceptance of Alipay by North American merchants.

Jonathan Lu, Alipay's president, said it was a natural step for the company to expand service in North America, as it had become a popular online payment system in China.

Philip J. Philliou, Partner at PSP, said the agreement would remove barriers and opens up new potential for North American merchants to add millions of dollars in new sales volume from an untapped market.

As of November 2007, Alipay had more than 56 million users in China, with 80,000 new users registered each day. Alipay's average daily transaction volume exceeds 23 million U.S. dollars, handling an average 1,170,000 transactions each day.