BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- China, the host of the 19th Asian Games held from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8 in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, has been offering optimized payment services for overseas tourists watching the games.
Latest data from Alipay, one of China's major online payment service providers, shows that the number of daily average transactions through its network since the start of the Hangzhou Asian Games for overseas clients surged 68.8 percent compared to the daily average number in August.
In July, both Alipay and WeChat Pay, another Chinese online payment platform, announced that owners of overseas bank cards can now be linked to Alipay or WeChat accounts, allowing seamless transactions.
Just days before the opening of the Hangzhou Asian Games, Ant Group, parent company of Alipay, officially welcomed seven new leading e-wallets and payment apps from Asia to the "Alipay+-in-China" (A+China) Program.
Users of mPay (Macao SAR, China), Hipay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC (Singapore), as well as Naver Pay and Toss Pay from the Republic of Korea (ROK), and TrueMoney (Thailand) will be able to use their familiar home e-wallets on their phones and enjoy seamless mobile payment experiences in the Chinese mainland across Alipay's merchant network.
The new additions bring the total number of overseas e-wallets accepted in the Chinese mainland to 10. AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR, China), Touch 'n Go eWallet (Malaysia), and Kakao Pay (ROK) piloted the program in late 2022. In total, these payment methods reach a population of over 175 million in Southeast and East Asia, according to data from Ant Group.
Users of these e-wallets may use their own payment apps wherever Alipay works, to enjoy secure, smooth and cashless payment, and transparent and competitive exchange rates. ■
