Originally Posted by
YuropFlyer
Are you really sure there are no Chinese Visa/MC? I'm pretty sure I've seen (mainland) Chinese with Visa cards quite a while ago.. I doubt they were HK-issued..
There are but you can't bill RMB with them through Visa.
You can use Visa mode on a PRC-issued Visa card in China, but you get billed in USD and translated back to RMB (by your Chinese issuer bank).
These cards are usually Unionpay-coded as well* so there's no reason whey Visa will be used domestically except on request.
* (I'm not sure all PRC-issued Visas have to have Unionpay coding, I just haven't seen a PRC Visa without Unionpay yet).