China pushing to break down payment barriers for visitors, with 90,000 overseas buyers set to flock to Canton Fair
- Tackling payment issues is a small but important part of Beijing’s broader efforts to bring down barriers for foreigners in China
- Preregistration figures for the 135th edition of the Canton Fair show 93,000 buyers from 215 countries and regions will attend
With foreigners still struggling to obtain change for cash transactions, or even pay for museum tickets electronically, officials are seeking to make life easier for the 93,000 buyers from over 200 countries and regions that will attend the upcoming edition of China’s largest trade fair.
Tackling payment issues of foreign traders is a small, but important part of Beijing’s broader efforts to bring down barriers for foreigners in a bid to attract global tourists and businesses, as it is closely related to China’s trade prospects and post-pandemic rebound amid a set of economic headwinds.
“We will set foreign currency exchange machines and mobile [point of sale] terminals to cater to the diverse payment needs of exhibitors and buyers, including currency exchange, digital payments, card transactions, mobile payments and cash payments,” commerce vice-minister Wang Shouwen said earlier this week ahead of the 135th edition of the fair, which begins on April 15.
Wang said cash accounted for over 50 per cent of payments by overseas buyers in Guangzhou, followed by 33 per cent for mobile payments and 15 per cent for bank cards.
He confirmed the semi-annual fair had received preregistration by 93,000 buyers from 215 countries and regions, with over 220 leading enterprises also confirming delegations.
“These figures surpass the scale of previous sessions for the same period,” he added.
Some services, such as receiving money from a friend, required me to have a Chinese bank card, which is not feasible in my case
