The Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone is piloting a new WeChat Pay function that enables international visitors to easily register and make payments.

By providing a passport or other basic identification, visitors can open a WeChat Pay account, top it up using international bank cards, and make small mobile payments on the Chinese mainland. Hetao’s Shenzhen Park is one of the first areas to offer this service.

“I can stroll around without carrying my wallet. The payment experience was so smooth,” said an American who identified himself as Jim after buying a roasted sausage at a convenience store in the Shenzhen Park using WeChat Pay.

Data showed that over the last seven months, the Chinese mainland had received 17.25 million visits from international travelers, an increase of 129.9% year on year.

China is increasingly becoming a cashless society, with US$434 trillion in electronic transactions annually. More than 80% of the transactions take place on mobile platforms, according to figures from Chinese card payment company UnionPay. Alipay and WeChat Pay dominate China’s digital payment services, together accounting for 91% of the market share.

In the past, accessing the apps’ services was impossible for most international visitors — they needed to have a Chinese mainland bank account and a local mobile phone number.

In 2019, Alipay and WeChat started allowing the use of overseas credit cards on their apps, but only select Chinese merchants were allowed to process the cards. Ever since, the two payment giants have loosened restrictions and continued to upgrade services for international travelers.