Tencent’s WeChat Pay says transactions jump during ‘golden week’ after China’s stimulus bazooka

Consumers in China appear to have loosened their purse strings after Beijing announced a slew of heavyweight measures to boost the economy

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Tourists visiting the Great Wall in Beijing during the “golden week” national holiday. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:00pm, 8 Oct 2024

Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Pay, one of China’s dominant digital payment platforms, saw a jump in transactions during the “golden week” national holiday, as consumer spending shows signs of recovery after Beijing rolled out its biggest stimulus package since the pandemic.

Known as Weixin Pay on the mainland, the digital wallet recorded a 20 per cent year-on-year surge in transaction numbers during the week-long break, which ended on Monday, according to the company.

Tourism-related transactions nearly doubled from the week before the holiday, with cross-border payment volume growing over 70 per cent, WeChat Pay said. In Hong Kong and Macau, cross-border transactions more than doubled from the previous week, suggesting that those cities were especially popular among mainland tourists.

Consumers in China appear to have loosened the purse strings after Beijing announced late last month a slew of heavyweight measures to boost the economy, including mortgage rate cuts and tools to support the stock market. Many people spent the holiday abroad as sentiment improved.

Tourists walk by a replica of the Eiffel Tower at the Parisian hotel resort in Macau. Photo: AFP

Alipay, the other major mobile payment service in China, reported a 60 per cent rise in transaction numbers year on year in overseas markets. Ant Group, which operates Alipay, is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, owner of the South China Morning Post.