The $30 million toe in the water

WeChat Pay's extensive merchant nework will be available to U.S.-based PayPal users, making cashless payments easier for foreign tourists in China. The move is part of China's efforts to bring in more foreign tourists, said Gary Ng, a senior economist for Asia Pacific at French bank Natixis.

Since cashless payments have become increasingly common in China, the move is likely to provide greater convenience to foreign visitors. weChat Pay and Ant Group's Alipay, part of the Alibaba e-commerce empire, are widely available across China including in taxis and restaurants.

According to the report, the number of foreign visitors, excluding those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when China closed its doors to most foreign arrivals and imposed stringent quarantines in many places. but it has since surged past the nearly 32 million visitors recorded in 2019, to over 35 million last year.

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The move is also part of a global trend of integration of payment platforms through mutually recognized cross-border QR codes, said Ivan Su, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar. WeChat Pay has allowed users to link their foreign bank cards since 2019.

Tencent also said it will also be offering a transaction fee waiver for first-time users linking their international bank cards to WeChat to encourage wider use of that option. such transactions by foreign travelers in China jumped nearly 80% year-on-year in January-April, according to the report.

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The move is likely to provide greater convenience to foreign visitors, said Ng. WeChat Pay's extensive merchant network, the Chinese technology giant says, in a move calibrated to attract more foreign tourists.

Tencent said in a statement that the feature will be available to U.S.-based PayPal users first, with more markets to follow. The move is part of China's efforts to bring in more foreign tourists, said Ng.

Who is the unnamed buyer?

The report does not mention the unnamed buyer, but it is likely that the move is part of a larger strategy to attract more foreign tourists to China.

The move is also part of a global trend of integration of payment platforms through mutually recognized cross-border QR codes, said Su.

A broader trend

The move is part of a broader trend of integration of payment platforms through mutually recognized cross-border QR codes, said Su. weChat Pay has allowed users to link their foreign bank cards since 2019.

The number of foreign visitors, excluding those from Hong Kong and Taiwan, plunged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when China closed its doors to most foreign arrivals and imposed stringent quarantines in many places . But it has since surged past the nearly 32 million visitors recorded in 2019, to over 35 million last year.

The move is likely to provide greater convenience to foreign visitors, said Ng. WeChat Pay's extensive merchant network, the Chinese technology giant says, in a move calibrated to attract more foreign tourists.