Digital Payments Bring Better Travel Experience in China

ZHANG LIJUAN

China is taking a range of steps to make iteasier for international visitors to make moneytransactions for purchases in China.

CHINAS visa-free policy keeps expanding and the countryhas entered a new era of welcoming visitors froman increasing global reach. By January 1， 2024， Chinahad inked mutual visa exemption agreements with157 countries， simplified visa procedures with 44 countries，and enjoyed comprehensive mutual visa exemptions with 23countries， including Thailand， Singapore， the Maldives， and theUnited Arab Emirates.

A range of favorable visa policies and newly released measuresof convenient entries into China have attracted more foreigntourists to the country. According to data from Ctrip.com，a leading travel services platform in China， during the SpringFestival in 2024， inbound tourism orders increased more than10-fold from last year， with visitors mainly coming from Japan，the United States， the Repulic of Korea， Malaysia， Germany，and Thailand.

Though the number of tourists has been growing thanks tothe countrys visa-free policy， it is worth noting that there aredistinct differences in payment habits between Chinese shoppersand visitors from other countries.

Jin Li， vice president of Southern University of Science andTechnology， pointed out that in China， QR codes are believedto be one of the lowest-cost mobile payment solutions. Favoredby small and medium-sized business owners， mobilepayment is widely available in most urban and rural areasacross China. QR code-basedpayments now dominate massconsumption scenarios， especiallythose of small amounts. The penetrationrate of card paymentsis relatively low among Chinesesmall and medium-sized businesses，considering that the costof a point of sale （POS） machineor transfer commission fee ishigh. Foreign tourists， however，are more used to card， near-fieldcommunication （NFC）， cash， andother payment options.

Some international visitors therefore may encounter difficultiesin paying their way due to different payment methods.

Natalia Bayona， UN Tourism Executive Director， said thatChinas visa-exemption policies are conducive to global tourismrecovery. A thriving tourism industry in China is expectedto boost tourism development in its neighboring countries，Bayona also noted.

But how does China go about enhancing its appeal to internationaltourists so as to maintain its position as the largesttourism consumption market and one of the most importanttourist destinations？

Jin made several suggestions regarding this question andhow to overcome the quandary of payment challenges thatmay arise.

Alipays business partners offer arange of convenient online services，including online translation， taxi reservations，hotel bookings， scenic spotticket bookings， bus services， powerbank renting， and exchange rateschecking， to facilitate foreign visitorstravel in China with a mobile phone.

Upgrading Payment Services

In 2023， China announced a payment plan for foreignvisitors in the country， featuring a system of paying largebills by card， small bills by QR code， and using cash as abackup plan. It basically covers all kinds of transaction scenariosin the country. With the joint effort of the finance，commerce， and culture and tourism departments， as wellas Alipay and other enterprises， this payment plan has beenupgraded and is improving foreigners payment experiencein China.

Take Alipay for example. Foreign visitors can pay in thesame way as Chinese citizens do after downloading Alipayand linking their international bank cards with the app.Alipays business partners offer a range of convenient onlineservices， including online translation， taxi reservations，hotel bookings， scenic spot ticket bookings， bus services，power bank renting， and exchange rates checking， to facilitateforeign visitors travel in China with a mobile phone.

Through cross-border digital payments and marketing solutionsof Alipay+ launched by AntGroup， users of 10 overseas e-wallets，including Touchn Go eWallet fromMalaysia， Kakao Pay from the Republicof Korea， Changi Pay fromSingapore， and TrueMoney fromThailand， can be used in China.

On February 23， 2024， ChinasState Council approved guidelinesfor further improving paymentservices and enhancing paymentconvenience. The document recommendedfocusing on addressing paymentdifficulties facing the elderlyand foreigners in China. It also planned to improve cooperation，increase necessary resource investments， take a range ofmeasures to remove service blockages， and promote variouspayment services， such as mobile payments， as well as paymentsby card and in cash.

At a meeting on February 29， the People's Bank of China，Chinas central bank， urged the financial sector to work towarddelivering positive results in facilitating payment services bybank cards or in cash， foreign currencies exchange， and mobilepayments.

“We will introduce more foreign user-friendly services， linkmore partners with overseas digital wallets， and enhance thepenetration of mobile payments，” CEO and Executive Chairmanof Ant Group Jing Xiandong told the meeting.

“We will instruct payment service providers to roll out a seriesof measures to make digital payments， a payment methodfavored by Chinese people， convenient and easy to get forforeign visitors，” said Zhang Qingsong， deputy governor of thePeople's Bank of China， at a press briefing on March 1.

Zhang laid out measures in three aspects： First， Alipay andTencents mobile payment service will enable foreign users tolink their overseas bank accounts with the services. Second，in linking overseas bank accounts， users will have the procedurefor identity verification simplified. In the meantime，efforts will be made to protect users personal informationin accordance with the law in the process. Third， Alipay， Tencentspayment service and other mobile payment serviceproviders will be allowed to raise the ceiling of single mobiletransactions by foreigners in China from US $1，000 to US$5，000 and that of annual accumulative transactions from US$10，000 to US $50，000.

Improving International Publicity on Payments

As Chinas payment service is being improved， Jin Li suggestedscaling up efforts to let more foreign tourists know inadvance that travel in China is now much more convenient.

“Through promotion， we can specifically tell our targetusers that mobile payments are available in most paymentscenarios in China. Payments through overseas bank cardsare accepted if the card has been linked to certain apps， ande-wallets of some nations and regions can be directly used forpayments in China. This information will make foreigners feelless concerned about their upcoming trips to China，” said Jin.

To this end， Jin gave some advice. First， publicity eventsabout trips to China can be launched. Since more tourists frommore countries can enter China visa-free beginning in 2023， itis advised that publicity events be held in these countries. Asfor the form， it can be launch events， exhibitions in key commercialareas， or videos， photos， and text posts on the Internetand social media platforms.

Second， Chinese embassies and consulates in foreign countries，an important source of information for foreign tourists，can be a channel for such promotion. Therefore， he recommendedpublishing a guide of mobile payments in China onthe websites and social media accounts of Chinese embassiesand consulates in foreign countries， with which foreign touristscan better prepare for their travel to China. Pamphlets detailingsuch information can also be made available at Chineseembassies and consulates.

Third， publicity can be improved at ports of entry. Jin suggestedthat instruction signs can be placed at conspicuousspots at airports， harbors， train stations， land borders， and otherports of entry， to let tourists get information about mobilepayments in the country upon their arrival. Tourist enquirydesks can also be set at ports of entry.

Fourth， targeted publicity can be carried out in partnershipwith leading Internet platforms and online influencers.Airline websites， hotel chain websites， and TripAdvisor， as wellas new media platforms like TikTok， Instagram， and YouTubeare important channels for foreign visitors to get informationabout tours to China. Cooperation with popular platforms andinfluencers can be carried out to help promote Chinas mobilepayment services and boost brand visibility of Chinas tourism.

“Providing more convenient services to attract internationaltourists are a vital part of high-level opening-up，” said Jin Li. Henoted that refining targeted publicity on mobile payment servicesis only a small step to give better service to foreign tourists.Competent authorities could formulate more systematicstrategies and strengthen cross-department synergy to bettersatisfy the needs of foreign visitors and support the countryshigh-level opening-up， he added.

ZHANG LIJUAN is a reporter of China Report.