Cashless trend takes hold in China

This photo taken on June 27, 2017 shows a woman making purchases through her smartphone at a shop in Beijing. China's lack of "credit card culture" has somewhat fueled the popularization of mobile payments, especially in small cities and underdeveloped areas. WANG ZHAO/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

No big surprise

It is no accident that mobile payment have expanded so fast in China. According to a report by eMarketer, China's lack of "credit card culture" has somewhat fueled the popularization of mobile payments, especially in small cities and underdeveloped areas.

In a remote mountain village of central China's Hunan province, one can easily buy a hen or groceries by scanning a QR code.

Payment and Clearing Association of China said in a report that mobile payment users in small towns and the countryside account for half of the total in China. The percentage of mobile payment users in the countryside is even higher than in provincial capitals.

"Mobile payment has become the norm and companies and brands cannot afford to ignore that fact," says Li.

WeChat Pay has recruited several million offline vendors. Alipay announced 10 million brick-and-mortar shops have signed for their cashless life promotion.

Mobile payment has also helped improve the outdated, time-consuming services at government offices and public sectors.

In Xi'an, nearly 70 percent of the northwestern city's drivers pay their traffic fines via WeChat instead of wasting time queuing in long lines in police departments.

Patients in Guangzhou are used to making an appointment with a doctor and paying by smartphone.

Statistics from WeChat showed that over 300 cities have public service platforms that accept WeChat payments.

Both the internet giants have actively expanded their services overseas since last year. Alipay can be used in several hundreds of thousands of shops in over 70 countries, while WeChat has landed in 19 countries and regions, including Japan, Thailand and Republic of Korea－most popular destinations among Chinese tourists.

"The door to a new world has opened, and an infinite future awaits," Jia says.