Apple has released a local-language version of its App Store in China, another sign of how the Chinese apps market has become increasingly competitive as leading players intensify their efforts to gain market share.  Previously, the App Store was only available in English, putting it at a disadvantage with Chinese-language rivals including other foreign vendors such as Motorola. “Starting today, customers in China can access Apple’s legendary App Store in Simplified Chinese, with localised featured apps and charts of the most popular paid and free apps in China,” noted the company in a statement yesterday. At the time of going to press this morning, however, the new app store was not yet live, according to Distimo, the apps analytics company. Apple’s announcement follows news this week that China Unicom, the country’s second-largest mobile operator, will launch an app store early next month. The store has been in beta since February and offers over 2,000 applications.

Among other app store contenders, China Mobile, the country’s leading mobile operator, had signed up over 50,000 developers by end-June of this year, the company said in its first half 2010 financial statement in August. Its Mobile Market boasts over 20,000 applications and has enjoyed over 25 million downloads since its launch last year. By comparison China Telecom, the country’s smallest operator, offers more than 5,000 apps in its eStore, which launched in March this year. In addition, Motorola’s Chinese language store, Shop4Apps, has performed strongly, which exerted pressure on Apple to respond. Alongside revamping its app store, Apple has also improved its online store so that users purchasing any of its products, such as an iPhone or iPad, can have them delivered directly to their home rather than having to collect them from one of the company’s stores. It currently has four stores for all of China, although it is looking to grow this number.