Ant Group and Mastercard expand partnership to facilitate inbound travel to China

Ant Group and Mastercard have expanded the International Consumer Friendly Zones programme to Chengdu and Chongqing with 12 Alipay+ overseas partners.

Building on the initial rollout in Beijing, the programme expanded to Guangzhou and Shanghai earlier this year. Meanwhile, Chengdu and Chongqing have secured spots among the top 10 inbound tourism destinations in the first quarter of 2024, according to the release. The new initiative aims to facilitate inbound travel to China.

With the support of local government departments, the programme will be rolled out to over 60 primary shopping areas, tourist attractions, international airports and high-speed railway stations in Chengdu and Chongqing.

The participating merchants will enhance payment signage visibility to clearly inform customers about the array of digital payment methods supported by Ant Group and its partners.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Alipay for more information.

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This comes as Chengdu witnessed 410,000 entries and exits of foreign nationals in the first five months of 2024, marking an increase of more than five times compared to the previous year, according to Ant Group.

Similarly, the number of foreign arrivals at the international airport of Chongqing saw a sixfold increase in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter. 

The two cities, which are connected by a rapid train ride of just over an hour, have also become popular destinations for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) visitors to China. According to the release, ASEAN was the largest trading partner of Sichuan in 2023.

Any Group’s statistics revealed that in the first half of 2024, spending by international visitors in Chengdu and Chongqing via digital payment methods supported by the group and its partners increased 13 times year-on-year. 

Among e-wallet partners of Alipay+, a suite of cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation technology solutions under Ant International, AlipayHK, Touch 'n Go eWallet (Malaysia), and TrueMoney (Thailand) ranked top three in terms of visitor transaction volume. Additionally, the number of merchants in both cities accepting payments from international visitors via Alipay+ grew more than five times year-on-year.

Ant Group has also cited data from the China Tourism Academy, which forecasts inbound travel to China will reach 80% of pre-pandemic levels in 2024. This is driven by the expanded visa waivers and resumed international flights.

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