China continues to loosen up its payments strictures in the hopes of attracting more foreign tourists. The latest decision reflects a government effort to encourage high-end hotels to accept payments from foreign bank cards.
Now, hotels rated three stars or higher, as well as top-rated tourist attractions, are required to accept all forms of card payments, including both domestic and foreign bank cards. The China National Tourism Association assigns official star ratings to hotels based on the amenities and services they provide.
Tourist attractions, like museums, have also been instructed to maintain staffed payment services and accomodate cash transactions for visitors who may not have access to digital payment options. This shift marks a significant change for the Chinese economy, where contactless payments have become the norm. Even street vendors rarely accept cash, instead insisting on digital payment platforms such as Ant’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay.
But the government’s imposition of strict financial and data control laws has posed challenges for foreign visitors conducting transactions. In the past, foreigners were unable to link their international credit or debit cards to Chinese apps. In order to pay via AliPay or WeChat, they had to set up a Chinese bank account.
The government made plans to introduce foreign credit and debit cards into China’s mobile payment network in 2019, but those plans were delayed by the pandemic. Nevertheless, China has now made it possible for foreigners to link their bank accounts to AliPay and WeChat.
Great Losses in Tourism
According to Statista, revenue from tourism in China peaked at more than 6.6 billion yuan in 2019. But it slipped to under 3 billion yuan in each year from 2020 to 2022.
As a result, measures to simplify payments for foreign nationals have been gradually introduced in China over the past year. In June 2023, Mastercard launched a partnership with Alipay to let travelers pay for goods and services digitally by linking their debit or credit card to their Alipay digital wallet. A few months later, Mastercard received permission from the People’s Bank of China and other authorities to start issuing Chinese yuan-denominated bank cards under its own brand. And in March 2024, China began allowing foreign visitors to spend up to $2,000 a year on Alipay without the need to register their ID.
