Alipay, the world's leading payment and lifestyle platform operated by Ant Financial, has connected more than 300,000 Japanese merchants as of early 2019 with tourists from Chinese mainland paying through the app.

This was an increase of about 500 percent compared with the beginning of 2018, when 50,000 merchants in Japan accepted Alipay, amid a push by the Japanese government to drive greater adoption of mobile payments. 

Japan is one of the most popular destinations for holiday by Chinese tourists, according to statistics compiled by Alipay, which is also working with its e-wallet strategic partners in other Asian markets to bring more consumers to Japan in the near future. Alipay's e-wallet partners include TrueMoney in Thailand, GCash in the Philippines, kakaopay in the Republic of Korea, and Paytm in India.

Over China's four-day May Day holiday in early May, Japan was ranked fourth highest among all the overseas destinations in terms of total Alipay transaction volume. The country also posted one of the biggest increases in tourist spending, with average spending on Alipay per person rising 25 percent year-on-year. During the period, the most popular merchants for shoppers were convenience stores, airport shops, and department stores, according to Alipay statistics.

More tourists are expected to visit Japan in the coming years and Alipay is working to help local merchants cope with the influx through digital payments, while providing tourists with the mobile payment experience that they are familiar with back home.