China's Alipay, Norway's tourism agency forge mutual promotion partnership

OSLO - China's leading mobile and online payment service Alipay and Norway's tourism promotion agency on Thursday announced a mutual promotion partnership to provide better services to Chinese tourists in the Nordic country.

The partnership agreement was reached by Alipay and Scandinavian Tourist Board (STB), a joint initiative by Denmark and Norway for promoting tourism in China, the two sides said in a joint statement.

Alipay is China's leading third-party online payment solution.

According to the agreement, Alipay will promote Norway as a Chinese-friendly travel destination and a mobile payment oriented country via Alipay's mobile application and external communication channels in China and in Europe towards its 520 million Chinese users.

In cooperation with Alipay's European partners APay Nordic and 2paynow, STB will promote Alipay services in Norway by recommending and encouraging local merchants to consider and accept Alipay's mobile payment solution as well as Alipay's marketing platform.

Alipay officially launched its operations in Norway on Sept 4 to boost Chinese customers'shopping experience in the Nordic country.

"Now with this partnership with Alipay, we will further support them in deploying Alipay services in this region, which will strengthen the advantages of Norway as well as the Nordics as a Chinese-friendly destination," said Per Holte, chairman of STB and head of tourism in Asia and Latin America at Innovation Norway.

Innovation Norway is a government agency responsible for promoting innovation in Norway and marketing Norway's tourism on the world market.

Rita Liu, Alipay's head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the Alipay services will benefit both Chinese tourists and Norwegian businesses.

"We have been launching our services in Europe since mid-2016. We are happy that Norway and the Nordics are embracing Alipay for Chinese tourists," Liu was quoted as saying in the statement.

"The adoption of Alipay services of both payment and marketing will not only enhance the experience of Chinese consumers but also help Norwegian businesses to reach out to their Chinese customers even before they depart from China," she said.