Boosted by China's visa-free transit policy for international travelers, Shanghai saw the number of transactions made by foreign cards jump 48 percent year-on-year to 1.2 million in the first quarter, with the total transaction value surging 37 percent year-on-year to cross over 2 billion yuan ($274 million), according to the People's Bank of China Shanghai head office.

The data was released during a news conference on April 24.

Over the first three months of the year, more than 200,000 foreign card cash withdrawals and foreign currency exchange transactions were made in Shanghai, with the combined value amounting to 900 million yuan. Specifically, the number of foreign currency exchange businesses rose 21 percent from a year earlier, with the value of these businesses up 40 percent.

As of end March, 96,000 devices installed by the city's 66,000 merchants have accepted payments for both domestic and foreign bank cards.

Mobile payments connecting foreign cards to Chinese online payment tools such as Alipay, Tenpay and UnionPay International have shot up in Shanghai. Nearly 20 million such transactions were made in the first three months, rising 171 percent year-on-year. This equaled 2.8 billion yuan of total value, up 160 percent from a year earlier.

The PBOC Shanghai head office has guided Alipay to further optimize its services of connecting to foreign cards. With Alipay's international edition, overseas travelers can access services such as ride hailing, using the city's shared bicycles by scanning the QR code, making hotel reservations and booking air tickets. Up to 13 e-wallet services from 10 countries and regions are now connected to Alipay for inbound usage in China.