New York, Jul 21 (IANS): PayPal sees great potential in the Chinese market and expects to grow further in the country, a senior executive of the global online payment giant said here, shortly after the company re-listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

"China is a huge and very important market, with the growth rate of 35 to 40 percent in online payment," Rohan Mahadevan, PayPal's Vice President of Asia Pacific, told Xinhua in an interview on Monday.

Mahadevan said that the company has mainly focused on two categories of users in China -- Chinese merchants trying to reach overseas customers, and Chinese consumers buying from overseas merchants.

"Growth rates on both sides are very good," he added, showing optimism about future opportunities in China.

On the one hand, China is one of the biggest export markets in the world with pretty large merchants that are selling fashion, electronics, accessories and others to anywhere globally, while on the other, huge middle class in China is buying more and more from aboard, he noted.

PayPal announced on Monday that it has completed its separation from eBay Inc., and is now an independent public company trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol PYPL.

As one of PayPal China's largest merchants, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus was invited to join Monday's opening bell ringing ceremony at Nasdaq.

Carl Pei, OnePlus co-founder and Director of Global, said that OnePlus has achieved remarkable success in expanding business overseas partly thanks to PayPal.

"PayPal has been helping us build a strong foundation in overseas markets by providing payment solution, customized services and a global network of resources," said Pei.