Both Guandong Development and Construction said that it's only possible for a foreigner to get a credit card (by which I mean Visa/MC, not Unionpay) if they own a company here.
Dan Mairen wrote about this three years ago. He said that some bank/s (didn't say which) told him that he could have a card if he deposited 50,000.
I wouldn't mind doing that, if there were no other way.