Chinese tourists get easier mobile payment in South Africa

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Mobile payment is linking BRICS country members as the bloc holds great potential in e-commerce cooperation and accounts for nearly half of global online retail sales, according to a report released by China's e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Now the link is being established between China and South Africa as Chinese mobile payment platform Alipay, which is affiliated with Alibaba, has partnered with its South African counterpart Zapper to allow Chinese tourists to settle their payments via Alipay at 10,000 locations across South Africa.

VCG Photo

The Chinese tourists can also search for restaurants, bars, theaters, bookshops, adventure parks and more through Alipay's in-app Discovery platform, and pay for their orders in yuan via Alipay by scanning a Zapper QR code.

They have been able to buy sightseeing bus tickets since Alipay debuted in South Africa on June 27.

Over 110,000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa in fiscal 2016, with a year-on-year growth rate of 38 percent, statistics from the South African Department of Tourism showed.

The tourism sector has contributed to nine percent of the country’s GDP, and has been growing for seven years in a row.

China, assuming the rotating presidency of the BRICS this year, is hosting the ninth BRICS Summit on September 3-5 in Xiamen, east China’s Fujian Province.