(Yicai Global) Oct. 18 -- Alipay, the third-party payment platform of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA], has extended its network to 16,000 taxis in New York and Las Vegas in the US state of Nevada, Alipay and its partner VeriFone Systems Inc. [NYSE:PAY] announced today.

New York and Las Vegas are two of the most popular destinations in the US for Chinese tourists and 14,000 and 2,100 taxis in the two cities, respectively, will accept Alipay payment, TechWeb.com.cn reported.

Souheil Badran, Alipay North America's general manager, said that paying taxi fares via Alipay will aid Chinese tourists because it is familiar to them and will thus ease their concerns over deficient English skills.

Chinese tourists have become major targets for US travel, retail and catering merchants. Nearly three million mainland tourists visited the US last year, per US commerce data, up 15 percent, and their spending grew 9 percent to USD33 billion. Alipay has plied its mobile payment business in the US since last year through local partnerships encompassing merchants such as restaurants, hotels, retailers, tourist attraction franchises and taxis.