Alipay not to charge over cash-drawing amid peers pressure

A receptionist works at Alipay's headquarters in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, in this Jan 10, 2014 file photo. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Alipay, a leading mobile payment system in China, said on Tuesday in a social media post it will not charge its users for withdrawing cash, dispelling rumors.

"Since quite a few users asked about the issue, here is my reply for all: Alipay will not charge for withdrawing cash," the message said.

Alipay is run by Ant Financial Services Group, an Internet finance affiliate of Alibaba. Alipay and Tencent's WeChat Payment dominate mobile payments.

Media reported on Monday that WeChat Payment will charge customers from March 1, arousing concern that Alipay would follow suit.

Alipay's clarification came two days ahead of the reported launch of Apple Pay mobile payment system in China.

China is the world's biggest smartphone market. Almost 360 million people, more than the population of the United States, have already taken to paying by mobile phone, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

China has 413 million online shoppers. Last year, more than 50 million people tried online shopping for the first time.