Cashless trend takes hold in China

China's lack of "credit card culture" has somewhat fueled the popularization of mobile payments, especially in small cities and underdeveloped areas.

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Mobile payment has also helped improve the outdated, time-consuming services at government offices and public sectors.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