As economic and trade exchanges in the Greater Bay Area deepen, inbound tourists’ consumption in Guangdong increased 11 times in the first quarter

The 135th Canton Fair will be held from April 15 to May 5. The payment convenience for foreigners is accelerating. Driven by a series of policies and measures to facilitate foreign guests to come to China, such as visa-free travel, the number of foreign tourists traveling to Guangdong is increasing. At the same time, under the guidance of the central bank, a series of measures to vigorously improve the payment convenience of foreigners have been implemented, which have jointly promoted the expansion of the scale of inbound consumption in the Greater Bay Area.

In the first quarter of 2024, inbound guests used Alipay's foreign card binding service to make purchases in Guangdong, with the average daily transaction amount increasing 11 times year-on-year. More and more global friends are traveling in Guangdong with their mobile phones, deepening the global economic and trade exchanges in the Greater Bay Area.

In order to better welcome inbound guests, Ant Group has actively participated in the payment service guarantee work of the Canton Fair from the "first kilometer of landing" after entry, and has provided guidance through a series of measures such as setting up new service desks and providing service guides. It will also continue to strengthen publicity and guidance inside and outside the Canton Fair exhibition hall and in the core business district of Yangcheng. In addition, it will also cooperate with international card groups and overseas wallet partners to launch marketing activities on Alipay and multiple overseas wallet terminals to help overseas guests travel around China and deepen economic and trade exchanges between China and foreign countries.

Improving the payment convenience for foreigners coming to China has become the focus of efforts from all parties. Under the guidance and support of the People's Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Ant Group worked closely with partners such as China UnionPay, Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and overseas wallets, and in 2020, it became the first company in China to obtain approval for two sets of payment solutions for foreigners entering the country , including "binding overseas bank cards after downloading the Alipay App" (foreign card internal binding) and "directly using overseas electronic wallets to scan Alipay QR codes" (outsourced internal use).

As of March 2024, inbound guests who use the Alipay App to bind international bank cards ("foreign card internal binding") come from nearly 200 countries and regions; among them, South Korea , Malaysia , Singapore , the United States , Japan , Thailand , Germany , Australia , the United Kingdom , and Indonesia are the top ten source countries.

Since March 2019, Ant Group has implemented the "outsourcing and internal use" plan for five years, and has introduced 10 overseas wallets from seven countries and regions, including AlipayHK (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China), Touch 'n Go eWallet (Malaysia), Kakao Pay (South Korea), MPay (Macao Special Administrative Region, China), HiPay (Mongolia), Changi Pay (Singapore), OCBC Bank (Singapore), Naver Pay (South Korea), Toss Pay (South Korea), TrueMoney (Thailand), etc. It covers more than 175 million people in Southeast Asia and East Asia. Consumers in these countries and regions can directly scan the code to consume at domestic merchants, and fully support two methods of scanning code payment and being scanned code payment.

The above two solutions better meet the needs of inbound guests for mobile payment. At the same time, Alipay also took the lead in piloting the small amount authentication-free function, improving and optimizing the transaction limit for inbound guests; enriching digital services, and launching new services such as 16 language translations and overseas wallet ride codes "one code pass" one after another. Alipay has become a treasure box for inbound guests to China, and has also helped more local businesses to do global business at their doorstep, becoming a bridge in cross-border trade activities and cultural exchanges.

Alipay becomes a treasure box for foreigners visiting China

Jay Birbeck, a British guy , has been working in China for five or six years. When the Canton Fair is approaching, he strongly recommends foreign friends who come to attend the Canton Fair to download Alipay, experience the convenience of China's mobile payment, and travel around China like a local: "Alipay can be used everywhere in daily life, it is really convenient. There is no such treasure box-like app in the UK."

Guangzhou's time-honored teahouse Diandude is also on Jay's recommendation list. Huang Donghua, director of Diandude 's Tianhe operating area , said, "Foreign tourists who come to our store, whether they are first-time visitors or regular foreign customers living locally, all like our dim sum and service. Many foreigners are very good at paying with Alipay." In order to serve foreign friends well, Diandude will also display booklets for inbound guests using Alipay in each store in South China, allowing them to pay more conveniently and quickly.

Jay, a British guy , uses Alipay to pay at Diandoude

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