Eric Jing, Chairman of Ant Group and Ant International, and Cyril Han, CEO of Ant Group, celebrating China’s Top International consumer destinations with card and wallet partners.
Ant International has been appointed as one of the first Foreign Institution Partners (FIPs) of China’s Cross-border Interconnection Payment Gateway (CPG), a major initiative led by the People’s Bank of China and the Payment & Clearing Association of China (PCAC).
As the largest player in the scheme, Ant International—together with Alipay—brings the widest network of global partners, the broadest use cases, and the highest transaction volumes. The new CPG framework is designed to streamline connections and enhance system stability for overseas payment partners, creating a faster, safer, and more reliable channel into the Chinese market.
Through Alipay+, its cross-border payments and digitization platform, Ant International will leverage the direct CPG connection to accelerate the growth of its partner ecosystem. This will expand global coverage, connect more international wallets, and deliver a more seamless and secure experience for travelers and consumers transacting across China’s 80 million Alipay-enabled merchants.
Alipay+ currently links 36 e-wallets and eight national QR payment systems worldwide, giving over 100 million merchants access to 1.8 billion consumer accounts. As the FIP with the broadest fintech reach under the CPG scheme, Alipay+ already enables seven major international card brands and supports scan-and-pay transactions for users in 12 countries and regions. It also partners with more than 20 e-wallets and payment networks across Asia, Europe, and beyond.
In addition, Alipay+ has forged strong collaborations with government-backed payment schemes in emerging markets to support national digitalization and financial inclusion agendas. Active partnerships include SGQR (Singapore), DuitNow (Malaysia), ZeroPay (South Korea), Bakong (Cambodia), FonePay (Nepal), LankaPay (Sri Lanka), QRIS (Indonesia), and HUMO (Uzbekistan).
The launch comes as Asia-Pacific continues to dominate the global e-wallet landscape, reporting USD 9.8 trillion in transaction volume in 2023—nearly two-thirds of the worldwide total—cementing the region’s position as the leader in digital payments and e-wallet adoption.