On Wednesday, China’s central bank stated an application by a unit of American Express Co (AmEx) had been accepted.

The status of the application was revealed in an official social media post from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC).

The post did not elaborate on when AmEx can start operations in the country.

In November 2018, AmEx had won an approval from the PBOC to clear card payments making it the first U.S. card network to gain direct access to China’s market.

Amex now requires PBOC’s final approval before it can begin operations.

China is finally slowly opening up its credit card payments market to foreign companies following a decade long lobbying by foreign players who are seeking direct market access.