Alipay sees surge in overseas visitors

The spending made by overseas visitors via Alipay, a popular mobile payment tool launched by Chinese fintech company Ant Group, surged about 120 percent year-on-year during the first four days of the weeklong National Day holiday, according to data released by Alipay.

The amount of spending from foreign tourists, who can enjoy visa-free entry policies when visiting China since 2023 and pay through Alipay, soared nearly three times between Oct 1 and Oct 4 compared with the same period of last year.

Alipay said that the number of Chinese merchants that have accepted the digital payment method from foreigners rose 100 percent from a year ago.

The top five cities, that witnessed the fastest growth in expenditures from inbound tourists using Alipay during the holiday, were Qinhuangdao in Hebei province, Sanya in Hainan province, Huzhou and Jinhua in Zhejiang province, and Nanchang in Jiangxi province.

Meanwhile, the number of outbound transactions made by Chinese mainland travelers using Alipay at overseas destinations jumped over 60 percent year-on-year in the first four days of the holiday.

Popular destinations such as Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong and Singapore experienced a surge in transaction volumes, according to Alipay. Expenditures on services, transportation, entertainment and dining witnessed the fastest growth.