For the first time, people in Hong Kong can take part in the 12-12 shopping festival by using the mobile wallet app – Alipay HK. The Special Administrative Region is trying to catch up with the rest of the country in terms of paying for goods using mobile phones. Take a look.

One HK dollar for a bowl of fish balls, a 15 percent discount for electronics, and over 50 percent for cosmetics, just scan the QR code for Alipay on your mobile phone to gain access to these perks.

During this year's 12-12 shopping festival, there are special offers from over 10-thousand merchants across Hong Kong. Both local residents and mainland tourists can enjoy the benefits.

Alipay entered Hong Kong in 2014. Its customers are mostly tourists from the Chinese mainland. In May, the company launched its Hong Kong dollar eWallet – Alipay HK for local residents.

LI JIEJUN HONG KONG "Mobile payment is common in many food markets in big cities on the Chinese mainland, but it's still something new in Hong Kong. The city is moving toward a cashless economy. With a lot of small transactions every day, wet markets are suitable for testing the waters."

Two months have passed since Alipay HK was launched, and the feedback has been good. People use it most when they buy seafood and pork.

SEAFOOD VENDOR "It's very convenient. I don't have to give them change with my wet hands. And the customers can also enjoy discounts. They can save five HK dollars if they spend 50 HK dollars."

MRS YANG CUSTOMER "I use the app every day. I can save a lot since there are a lot of promotions. And I don't need to bring too much cash. Many friends also like using it."

Alipay HK now serves more than 8-thousand merchants with over 100-thousand active users. But compared with the popularity of mobile payments in the Mainland, the number is still very small.

VENETIA LEE, GENERAL MANAGER ALIPAY HK LTD. "Transactions of Chinese tourists have increased more than 10 times in recent years. For Hong Kong's local user adoption, it's still very young. We just launched in May. There's still a long way to go to be the mainstream payment method in Hong Kong. The beginning is very exciting. There are a lot of players in the market. More competition will push everyone to move faster."

Two decades ago, Hong Kong's stored value payment system known as the Octopus card was launched. It eventually led the world in electronics payments. Today, Hong Kong is trying to catch up with the Chinese mainland. LJJ, CGTN, HK.