Let overseas tourists ＂swim in China＂ more conveniently.

　　The continuous release of visa-free policies and a number of new entry facilitation measures have further promoted overseas tourists to visit China. The data shows that during the Spring Festival in 2024, the inbound tourism orders increased by more than 10 times year-on-year, and the main source countries were Japan, the United States, South Korea, Malaysia, Germany and Thailand.

On January 5, 2024, Jilin, Vanke Songhua Lake Resort Ski Resort, international friends came here to experience the fun of skiing.

　　"With the continuous expansion of visa-free’ friends circle’, the number of foreign tourists coming to China is increasing, but it should also be noted that there are obvious differences between Chinese and foreign payment habits." Jin Li, member of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, member of Economic Committee and vice president of south university of science and technology of china, pointed out that in China, QR code payment, as the lowest-cost mobile payment solution, covers the vast majority of urban and rural areas, especially favored by small and medium-sized businesses, and occupies a dominant position in the field of mass consumption, especially small consumption. However, the cost and settlement fee of credit card payment are relatively high, and the penetration rate among small and medium-sized merchants is low. However, overseas tourists are more accustomed to payment methods such as credit card, NFC and cash.

　　The difference in payment habits makes overseas tourists encounter some difficulties in "paying for bags". Many foreigners said that because they don’t know much about mobile payment, they often need friends’ help when they go out to spend money, which is very inconvenient.

　　The head of the United Nations Tourism Organization recently said that China’s visa-free policy will help the world’s tourism industry to pick up again, and the vigorous development of China’s tourism industry will also promote the common development of tourism in neighboring countries. How to further enhance its attraction to overseas tourists and keep China as the world’s largest tourism consumption market and one of the most important tourist destinations? Jin Li made recommendations.

　　Continuous optimization of payment services

　　In 2023, China decided on the scheme of "large credit card swiping, small code scanning, and cash covering the bottom", which basically covered all kinds of domestic payment scenarios for foreigners. With the joint efforts of finance, commerce, cultural tourism and other related enterprises such as Alipay, the payment scheme has been continuously optimized, and the payment experience of foreigners in China has also been continuously improved.

On January 26th, 2024, foreign tourists visited the glass bridge of Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon in Hunan Province.

　　Take Alipay as an example. In terms of serving overseas Chinese, inbound users can spend money like Chinese after downloading Alipay and binding international bank cards. Alipay, together with industry partners, provides convenient online digital services, including online translation, taxi booking, hotel booking, scenic spot tickets booking, public transportation, charging treasure rental, exchange rate inquiry, etc., and helps foreign friends to travel around China with a mobile phone in many ways. Through the Alipay+ cross-border digital payment and marketing solution under the Ant Group, 10 overseas wallet users are also supported to directly scan the code for payment after entering the country, including Touch’n Go eWallet (Malaysia), Kakao Pay (Korea), Changi Pay (Singapore) and TrueMoney (Thailand).

　　On February 23, 2024, the the State Council executive meeting deliberated and adopted the Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience, which emphasized that it is necessary to focus on the inconvenient payment problems of the elderly, foreigners coming to China and other groups, strengthen coordination, increase the necessary resources investment, take various measures to open up service blocking points at the same time, and promote the parallel development and mutual supplement of various payment methods such as mobile payment, bank cards and cash.

　　On February 29th, the Central Bank of China held a promotion meeting on optimizing payment services, which mentioned that we should pay close attention to key tasks such as bank card acceptance, foreign currency exchange, cash payment, mobile payment and publicity and promotion, and do our best to achieve obvious results in the short term.

　　"Next, we will introduce more services for foreign users and access more card organizations and overseas e-wallets. Efforts will be made to strengthen the promotion and popularization of mobile payment and do a good job in ensuring related major activities. " Jing Xiandong, chairman and CEO of Ant Group, said at the meeting.

　　"In view of the difficulties encountered by foreigners in China in mobile payment, payment institutions will be guided to launch a series of convenient measures to make mobile payment products, the most acceptable payment method for China people, easy to use and usable, and to make foreign friends satisfied and willing to use them." On March 1st, Zhang Qingsong, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said at the routine briefing of the State Council policy on further optimizing payment services and improving payment convenience.

　　According to reports, there are three main measures: First, in view of the low success rate of using Alipay and WeChat to bind overseas bank cards, Alipay and Tenpay are required to optimize business processes and improve the efficiency of card binding; The second is to simplify the identity verification arrangement, so that foreign personnel in China can handle it more conveniently in a series of processes such as card binding. At the same time, strictly require relevant institutions to implement the "Personal Information Protection Law" and other laws and regulations to effectively protect the security of personal information; Third, guide major payment institutions such as Alipay and Tenpay to increase the single transaction limit of foreign visitors to China from $1,000 to $5,000, and increase the annual cumulative transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000.

　　Strengthen overseas publicity

　　With the continuous optimization of payment services in China, Jin Lijian proposed to strengthen the overseas publicity of mobile payment methods in China, so that overseas tourists can know in advance how to "swim in China" more conveniently.

　　"In related publicity, it can be clearly told to the audience that mobile payment can be conveniently used in most consumption scenarios in China, and overseas bank cards can be directly bound in related apps for payment, and local wallets in some countries and regions can also be directly used in China. This information will reduce the concerns of foreigners visiting China, make them feel more convenient, improve the experience of foreigners visiting China, and continuously enhance the attractiveness of China to overseas tourists. " Jin Li said.

　　Jin Lijian suggested, first of all, to carry out tourism promotion activities in China in various countries and provide "China Raiders" in related activities. Starting from 2023, China will grant visa-free access to more countries. It is suggested that the promotion should focus on countries with new visa-free access, which can include offline publishing activities, business exhibition booths, and online publicity in various forms such as videos, pictures and texts through the Internet and social media.

　　Secondly, strengthen pre-departure publicity in overseas embassies and consulates. Embassies and consulates are one of the important channels for overseas tourists to obtain information before coming to China. It is suggested to publish a guide on mobile payment in China on the websites of embassies and consulates and social media platforms, providing simple but detailed operation methods and precautions to help tourists prepare in advance. You can also place a paper version of the Raiders in the embassy or consulate.

　　Third, strengthen publicity at the port of entry. It is suggested that public service notice boards should be set up at eye-catching positions at entry ports such as airports, ports, railway stations and land passages, so that tourists can know the information of mobile payment in China at the first time of entry. Visitors’ guide desks can also be set up at ports, and a paper version of the strategy can be provided.

　　Fourth, cooperate with major platforms and media people to carry out accurate publicity. Websites frequently visited by foreign tourists, such as airline websites, hotel chain websites, TripAdvisor and personal websites of some tourists, as well as new media platforms, such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, are important channels for them to obtain China tourism information before coming to China. It is suggested to cooperate with the platform with large traffic and online celebrity to promote the mobile payment method in China in a way that is more popular among foreigners. This will also help to enhance the visibility of China tourism brands more effectively.

　　"Providing more convenience for foreigners in China and attracting more foreign tourists to China as a tourist destination is an important part of high-level opening up." Jin Li said that strengthening the targeted publicity of mobile payment is only a small measure to attract foreign tourists, and suggested that relevant departments study and introduce more systematic measures to form a joint force to better meet the needs of foreign tourists and help open up to the outside world at a high level.

　

　　Zhang Lijuan’s China Report reporter.