There is no need to download a local payment APP or bind domestic and foreign bank cards. You only need to open a commonly used e-wallet in your home country and scan the code to achieve smooth, smooth and convenient payments when shopping in Shenzhen. It can also display the domestic currency amount converted according to the exchange rate of the day in real time, eliminating the tediousness of self-conversion… Now, this “silky” cross-border payment experience has been performed on the streets of Shenzhen, and overseas tourists have taken the lead in enjoying the convenience of Shenzhen’s cross-border payment upgrade.
In 2026, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting will officially enter “China time”.
As an open city, how Shenzhen can use the APEC stage to improve its internationalization level and make up for the shortcomings in people’s livelihood in serving overseas people has become the focus of attention from all walks of life.
Against this background, mainstream mobile payment institutions, local commercial banks, tax agencies and other parties have made concerted efforts to continue to promote cross-border payment facilitation upgrades and scenario expansion, and build a friendly and convenient consumption environment for overseas people.
One-click direct connection, overseas wallets can be used “as soon as you come to China”
At the recently held 20th Shenzhen International Finance Expo, Tencent officially announced the interconnection between its cross-border payment platform TenPay Global and PayPal World. This cooperation will bring a new experience for PayPal users around the world to spend in China.
There is no need for additional registration, no need to bind new cards, and no need to change commonly used apps. Foreigners can open the PayPal wallet on their mobile phones and complete purchases directly at WeChat Pay partner merchants, whether they actively scan the code to pay or present the payment code and it is scanned.
The implementation of this convenient model is inseparable from policy support and infrastructure improvement at the national level.
In 2024, the country issued the “Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience”, which clearly proposed to open up barriers to cross-border payment interoperability; in 2025, the “Cross-border QR Code Unified Gateway” was officially launched to support qualified market institutions to rely on the gateway to carry out cross-border QR code payment business, becoming the key to solving the payment problems of foreigners coming to China.
Hong Danyi, Vice President of Tencent Financial Technology, said in an interview that the interconnection with PayPal World was achieved through the “Unified Gateway”.
When PayPal users come to China, they don’t need to download a new APP or register a new account. They can pay easily by opening the PayPal wallet they use every day.
The first phase is open to PayPal users in the United States, and will be expanded to more markets around the world in stages.
According to reports, since the “cross-border QR code unified gateway” was launched, Tencent has reached interoperability cooperation with more than 40 overseas wallet institutions around the world in more than half a year, and has promoted nearly ten overseas wallets to access the “unified gateway”.
“In the next few months, the number of overseas wallets connected will continue to increase rapidly, allowing more overseas users to realize convenient payments in China through a unified channel.” Hong Danyi revealed.
Create a complete service closed loop of “consumption-payment-tax refund”
In 2026, the 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Informal Meeting will be held in Shenzhen. While Shenzhen continues to upgrade cross-border payment facilitation, it is also advancing at full speed to build a benchmark city for departure tax refund nationwide.
Data show that as of the end of March 2026, the number of foreigners entering and exiting through Shenzhen Port exceeded 2 million, a year-on-year increase of 31%; the number of inbound passengers from Hong Kong and Macao residents reached 36 million, inbound consumption demand maintains a strong growth momentum, and the demand for convenience in departure tax refunds has also increased.
To this end, Shenzhen has made the “last mile” of consumption in Shenzhen smoother for foreigners by optimizing the tax refund process and opening up electronic wallet tax refund channels.
Chang Bin, Vice President of ICBC Shenzhen Branch, said that currently there are three main methods for departure tax refund: cash refund, traditional card refund, and electronic wallet online tax refund. ICBC has taken the lead in opening up the WeChat Hong Kong wallet tax refund channel. In the future, it will gradually open other overseas wallet tax refund functions in cooperation with WeChat Pay to create a complete service closed loop of “consumption-payment-tax refund”.
Take Hong Kong users as an example. Passengers can scan the QR code to register their tax refund requirements when leaving the country. After selecting WeChat Hong Kong Wallet as the payment channel, ICBC will complete the fund settlement and transfer, and the tax refund amount will be automatically transferred to the designated wallet. The funds will arrive in time and the user experience will be very smooth.
“At present, WeChat Hong Kong Wallet has realized tax refunds at some ports in Shenzhen. It will cover more ports in June 2026, and will be connected to more overseas wallets in the future to fully meet the departure tax refund needs of all overseas people.” Hong Danyi introduced.
It is understood that under the guidance of the Shenzhen Municipal Taxation Bureau of the State Administration of Taxation, the Shenzhen Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has deployed departure tax refund service functions in major shopping malls in Shenzhen. Special tax refund service points have also been set up at major customs ports to form an online and offline tax refund service network.
The e-wallet tax refund service launched this time in conjunction with the cross-border payment upgrade not only takes advantage of the convenience of China Mobile Payment, but also fits the payment habits of overseas people, further activating the vitality of inbound consumption and taking the international level of Shenzhen’s departure tax refund service to a new level.
The active tax rebate scene is directly related to Shenzhen’s attribute as a highland for electronic product consumption.
Mobile phones, cameras, and tablets are the main categories for overseas tourists to receive tax refunds upon departure, and the amount of a single tax refund can easily reach several thousand yuan.
Chang Bin revealed that ICBC has also teamed up with Tencent to continue to improve the tax refund service experience, depositing the tax refund into designated overseas wallets in seconds, reducing the waiting process of traditional cash and card tax refunds to “purchase and refund immediately”.
How a cross-border payment channel was opened
The “scan” payment experience on the client side is the result of long-term development.
According to Tencent’s TenPay Global team, at the end of April 2025, more than 20 members of PayPal World’s senior management, technology, product, and business teams made a special trip to Shenzhen, and the two parties formally sat down for talks for the first time.
However, the solution brought by PayPal World at that time still had many “acclimates” to it – the U.S. market has long been dominated by NFC “contactless payments” such as Apple Pay, and had never tried QR code payment before. The cooperation had to start with “what is QR code payment?”
The two sides collided repeatedly for more than half a year, until the “Cross-border QR Code Unified Gateway” was officially launched, and the cooperation accelerated and entered a new stage.
The first test transaction was completed in December of that year, the first online main scan test was completed in January 2026, and the scanned experience was delivered at the end of April.
At this point, an American tourist can open his PayPal wallet and scan the QR code to pay at a Chinese street store.
According to Cui Renhu, business development director of TenPay Global, he stayed up until after two o’clock in the morning for almost the last two weeks of every month during the critical period. Compliance, product technology, contracts, and anti-money laundering were all issues that had to be tackled one by one. “This is a process of mutual understanding and mutual persuasion.” In his view, PayPal
What they like is the potential of the Chinese market and WeChat Pay’s acceptance network in China – it not only covers first- and second-tier cities, but also reaches counties and villages. Foreigners can also scan QR codes to make purchases when they go to scenic spots in fourth- and fifth-tier cities.
TenPay Global and PayPal World are interconnected. Even if an old man pushing a tricycle selling souvenirs in the fourth- and fifth-tier counties hangs out the WeChat payment code, foreign tourists can take out PayPal and scan the code directly.
From the first test transaction to being swept away, the cross-border payment infrastructure is still being laid, and the APEC Shenzhen Year is the beginning of its large-scale testing.
