Foreigners tap into Shenzhen e-payment

Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong province has made remarkable progress in facilitating payment transactions for foreigners visiting the city as it strives to create a favorable environment amid a surge in the number of such visitors, thanks to optimized visa policies.

Foreign nationals made a total of 85.88 million noncash payment transactions in the southern metropolis in the first half, with the value hitting 11.81 billion yuan ($1.65 billion), according to the latest data released by the People's Bank of China Shenzhen Branch on Tuesday. The figures represented 29 percent and 35 percent year-on-year growth, respectively.

South Korea, the United States and Singapore ranked as the top three source countries in Shenzhen's inbound consumption market in the first six months, collectively contributing nearly 30 percent of the total consumption value.

Supermarket shopping and catering were the two areas where consumption activity among foreigners in Shenzhen mainly centered on.

"We have doubled down on enhancing payment convenience for foreign nationals through four key initiatives — optimizing scenario-based experiences, driving product innovation, tailoring services to diverse groups and conducting regular inspections," said Song Jiezhang, deputy director of payment and settlement division at the PBOC branch.

The city has set up five one-stop comprehensive service centers at airports and ports, offering a wide range of services that include payments, communication, travel and transportation.

WeChat Pay, a popular digital payment platform in China, has seen growing popularity among foreign visitors after the process of connecting their foreign cards with the platform was simplified, with nearly 2 million individuals making payments through the modality.

The number of foreign card transactions using WeChat Pay in Shenzhen surged 160 percent year-on-year in the first six months, while the transaction value jumped by 150 percent.

Demand for convenient payment methods has grown as China's visa-free policies fuel a surge in inbound tourism. Foreign travelers made 3.43 million inbound and outbound trips via Shenzhen ports in the first half, up 39.2 percent on a yearly basis, according to the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection.

Meanwhile, cross-border financial services in Shenzhen have also seen robust development in the first half. Cross-border renminbi receipts and payments reached 2.76 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.3 percent.

Yu Lingqu, deputy director of the department of financial development and State-owned assets and State-owned enterprise research at China Development Institute — a Shenzhen-based think tank — said the rapid development of Shenzhen's cross-border financial services can be mainly attributed to two factors.

"For one, the city has been a trailblazer in rolling out the country's financial initiatives, including renminbi internationalization and capital account liberalization, which allows it to fully tap into policy dividends. For another, the deepening development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has strengthened Shenzhen-Hong Kong ties in tech innovation, industrial growth and livelihood, spurring demand for cross-border financial services," Yu said.