Consumers in China transacted nearly 280 trillion yuan in mobile payments alone last year. That's almost 42 trillion U.S. dollars, and more than three times the nation's total GDP.

Many cities have almost become cashless societies, thanks to China's world-leading mobile payment industry. Chinese consumers are also bringing this habit to foreign countries, like Japan.

WeChat Pay, one of the most popular mobile payment apps in China, now has 800 million monthly active users across the nation.

The eight million Chinese tourists visiting Japan every year can all use Wechat Pay while they're purchasing in the country.

And it's much more than that. In Japan, WeChat can now be used to do other things, like finding smart travel guides and ordering food online.

"We hope to bring China's cutting-edge mobile payment experience to countries all over the world because China's cashless societies based on mobile payment has ushered in very advanced technology," said Li Peiku, vice president of WeChat Pay.

In a 2017 global survey, the top three countries willing to try mobile payment were Indonesia, China, and India--all developing economies in Asia.

G7 countries like the U.S. and Japan are all at the bottom of the list.

Chinese mobile payment giants, however, are cutting through conservative foreign markets with Chinese tourists.

"We've covered 49 countries that Chinese tourists like to visit, spanning 16 different currencies," Li added that apart from payment, they're also trying to establish "a mobile payment ecosystem in those countries." 

WeChat's mobile payment success is also drawing the attention of Facebook.

Recently, the world's biggest social network launched its plan for Libra, a global cryptocurrency. For many industry insiders, Facebook's ambitious move into the world of digital payments can be seen as an effort to emulate the success of WeChat.

Some are even saying that the Libra will ultimately replace current mobile payment tools in the future. But facing this potential rival, will WeChat follow suit?"

Michael Cameron, a blockchain specialist in China who is now managing a tech start-up, told CGTN that the technology used by Libra has already been established. "The most prominent problem is the regulations of governments. There's a lot of red tape you have to go through to kind of make these things officially happen."

Major countries like China and the U.S. and several international organizations have all asserted their opposition to the Libra cryptocurrency, mainly due to concerns of privacy, money-laundering, and supervision issues.

But Cameron said the cryptocurrency could not be obstructed which is "sort of the force that's just moving forward and nothing is going to stop it."

But at least in the near future, the prevailing mobile payment tools will still be the dominant force in the global market.