(Yicai) Aug. 17 -- Alipay, China’s biggest third-party mobile payment platform run by fintech giant Ant Group, is extending its payment services to international visitors, offering them seamless access to the firm's ultra convenient payment solutions in China, China National Radio reported today.

Tourists can now link debit or credit cards that have been issued by mainstream card organizations, such as Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Diners Club International, to Alipay, the Hangzhou-based company said at its 2023 global partner conference today.

The overseas version, which also boasts translation and exchange rate conversion tools, will allow visitors to easily make payments in China by scanning QR codes and payment codes. Apart from sales in brick-and-mortar stores, Alipay can also be used on public transport as well as to book hotels and flights. It is also the official ticket sales channel for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Before this, overseas tourists had to use hard cash, foreign credit cards and other payment methods that were often not accepted by Chinese merchants.

Ant Group said that Alipay was preparing to extend its mobile payment services in China to overseas customers on July 21, just one day after rival WeChat Pay said it was now supporting the use of foreign cards at most Chinese shops.

Back in 2019, Chinese authorities had said that mobile payment solutions for foreign visitors should be improved to make it easier for them to spend money in the country. This included third-party payment platforms linking arms with overseas card issuers .

China only started issuing tourist visas again in January, after a three-year halt during the pandemic. There were 18 million tourists in the first half, around 12.4 percent of the level in 2019, according to Big Data analytics firm Guozheng.

Editor: Kim Taylor