Chinese able to pay with Alipay in South Africa

Alibaba's financial affiliate Ant Financial Services Group said on Aug. 30 that Chinese tourists will be able to use their Alipay to settle their expenses in South Africa.

This is made possible because Ant has extended its partnership with mobile payment and marketing platform Zapper to include 10,000 merchants in South Africa, according to a joint statement.

Chinese tourists can patronize restaurants, bars, theaters, book shops, adventure parks and then pay in yuan through Alipay on their smartphones.

Over 110,000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa in fiscal year 2016, a rise of 38 percent from a year ago, according to data from the South African Department of Tourism.

Zapper also helps connect Alipay with merchants in the UK and other European countries. Globally Alipay's payment service is now linked to over 200,000 brick-and-mortar stores in over 30 countries and in Europe, the United States and Southeast Asia.