Shanghai still leads the third-party payment sector nationwide after China granted an extra 26 licenses to firms earlier this week, the local finance industry regulator said yesterday.

By the end of last year, Shanghai boasted 51 third-party payment firms, or more than a quarter of the 197 nationwide, ranking the city No. 1 in China. Of the 26 new licensed firms, six are from Shanghai, according to Wu Jun, vice director of the Shanghai Financial Services Office.

"Third-party payment, covering mobile and cloud computing technologies, represents the convergence of technology and finance," Wu said at the Shanghai Finance Information Services Forum.

Shanghai's IT service industry may generate a revenue of 360 billion yuan (US$57.1 billion) this year, accounting for 6 percent of the city's gross domestic product.