(Yicai) April 9 -- Beijing has launched an initiative to make payments easier for foreigners in China’s capital city, with Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park in Chaoyang district becoming its first demonstration shopping mall.

Foreigners can use 11 overseas e-wallets or link their overseas bank cards to Ant Group's Alipay to scan QR codes to make payments, Yicai learned yesterday at the launch ceremony for the Inbound Consumers Friendly Payment Areas program. Major card providers, including Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Diners Club International, and Discover, have joined the initiative.

The program's first partners include Ant, NetsUnion Clearing, Bank of China, Visa, Shanghai Shouqianba Internet Technology, Didi Chuxing Technology, and the 11 overseas e-wallets.

“We’ve done a lot of work with the People's Bank of China and commercial units, banks, and business partners in major commercial areas over the past year or so and have achieved initial results,” said Yin Xiaolong, Visa’s global vice president and China country president. 

"Foreigners have been using Visa cards more frequently in Chinese shopping malls since they were allowed to link them with Alipay, and their consumption using these cards has also jumped,” Yin added.

Working with Alipay eases payments for Pakistani consumers and commercial units who use NayaPay to scan QR codes and pay for goods and services in China, noted Danish Lakhani, chief executive of the Karachi-based fintech platform.

Beijing will use the experience from Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park to set up more demo areas for barrier-free payments and provide the elderly and foreigners with various payment services, said Zhang Ying, deputy director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Local Financial Regulation.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev