Through the cooperation with local intermediary payment service provider Napas, Alipay will penetrate Vietnam’s online payment market by launching Alipay digital wallet, which enables Chinese tourists in Vietnam to pay local merchants by scanning QR codes.

This payment service is expected to help lure more Chinese tourists to Vietnam. Data of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism shows that 2.7 million Chinese tourists visited Vietnam in 2016, accounting for 27% of total international arrivals to the country. In the first quarter of this year, the country saw nearly 950,000 Chinese visitors, up 64% year-on-year.

“The cooperation between Napas, banks and Alipay will offer Chinese tourists another choice of payment when they are in Vietnam beside the currently operational UnionPay cards,” said Nguyen Tu Anh, general director of Napas.

Launched by Alibaba Group in 2004, Alipay digital wallet now has more than 520 million users, mainly in China. The users can hail a taxi, book a hotel room, buy movie tickets, make appointments with doctors, or purchase wealth management products directly from within the app. In addition to online payments, Alipay is expanding to in-store offline payments both inside and outside of China.

Alipay supports settlement of 18 currencies and is now present in more than 200 countries and territories around the world, including Singapore, the U.S., Australia and Indonesia.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Eric Jing, general director of Ant Financial Services, Alibaba affiliate that operates payment service Alipay, said Alipay chose Napas as its partner to ensure the operations will comply with regulations of the State Bank of Vietnam as well as international payment practices. The launching of Alipay in Vietnam will offer a chance for Vietnamese e-commerce businesses to promote their products and foster cooperation in developing e-commerce business between the two countries.

The cooperation took place on the occasion of Alibaba Group chairman Jack Ma’s visit to Vietnam, during which he met with Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam Le Minh Hung, and attended the Vietnam E-Payment Forum (VEPF) 2017.