Nigeria Times

By Ye Zi, Peng Xunwen, Kang Jie, People’s Daily

China has become more enticing for foreigners as the country has concluded mutual visa-exemption agreements covering different passports with more than 150 countries.

Recently, relevant departments in China have released a guideline for payment institutions to improve payment services to meet the demand of foreigners in various scenarios. With the concerted efforts of various parties, the country’s payment services are becoming more convenient, higher quality, and more efficient for foreigners: streamlined procedures for opening bank accounts, registration, and binding overseas bank cards, and acceptance of foreign cards at more key venues and stores.

“A few days ago, I tried to bind my VISA card to WeChat and Alipay, and to my surprise, the whole process was very fast. With no need to verify my identity with my passport, it only took less than one minute to succeed,” said Jack, an Australian, who recently came to China with his Chinese wife to visit her family. He heard from his family that the process of binding foreign bank cards through mobile applications had been simplified, so he decided to give it a try.

Jack had visited China with his wife a few times before, but at that time, it was quite complicated to bind a foreign bank card to Chinese mobile payment platforms. Therefore, he had to give up and let his wife handle the payment each time. “Now, after binding my own cards, all I need is a phone when I’m out,” he said.

With the support and guidance of the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Alipay and Tenpay (provider of WeChat Pay services) have implemented a series of measures to improve payment services for foreigners in cooperation with commercial banks, clearing agencies, and card organizations since 2023. As a result, foreigners are allowed to bind overseas bank cards to Alipay or WeChat Pay for consumption, and more and more overseas e-wallets can be used in China.

Now, foreigners can use their overseas mobile phone numbers, bank card numbers, etc. to open mobile payment services in China. China UnionPay has established interoperability with nearly 200 overseas e-wallets, which means users of overseas wallets such as K PLUS of Thailand, Naver Pay of South Korea, and GoPayz of Malaysia can make consumption in China. Alipay and Tenpay have allowed users of 13 overseas wallets to make payments in China. In addition, the two platforms have raised the single transaction limit for overseas travelers using mobile payments from $1,000 to $5,000, and lifted the annual cumulative transaction limit from $10,000 to $50,000.

The registration and verification for mobile payment have been further streamlined for foreigners. For instance, overseas users who open an account on WeChat Pay for the first time can make small payments without verification by only binding a foreign bank card. Subsequently, users can choose to complete real-name verification to increase the transaction limit.

Tenpay introduced a tiered verification solution before the Spring Festival this year, where overseas individuals only need to submit simple identity information to directly link their foreign card and make payments in most daily scenarios within a certain limit.

Details of services have been improved. On March 18, Alipay launched a pilot multilingual translation service on its application, expanding from the original two languages of Chinese and English to 16 languages. The translation service can be applied to various scenarios within the application, such as ride-hailing, hotel booking, ticketing of tourist attractions, public transportation, and checking exchange rates.

An executive of Alipay noted that in the future, the focus will be on high-frequency scenarios used by foreign tourists visiting China, and Alipay will introduce more exclusive services for foreign users.

Additionally, Alipay will expand its service coverage to include more card organizations and overseas e-wallets, allowing more foreign tourists to make QR code payments with their own e-wallets in China, the executive added.

“Mobile payment in China is very convenient. Now I’ve gotten used to using it. I can scan and pay at restaurants, cafes, and supermarkets, and the exchange rate is shown in real time,” Jack said.

Foreign currency exchange and cash services are also being improved. China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange has requested that at least one of the five foreign currency exchange channels should be available in important scenarios such as ports and hotels serving international guests.

Efforts are being made across China. For example, Beijing is improving its ability to accept foreign bank cards at key commercial areas, scenic spots, parks, and hotels; Shanghai has set up a special section on its official website to gather information about payment methods for foreigners, making it convenient for them to find the content they need in a short time; Zhejiang province launched a payment facilitation program for overseas personnel in November 2023, and by the end of February this year, there were already 2.56 million merchants across the province accepting mobile payments from overseas individuals.

By Wang Li, Wu Gang, People’s Daily

The third “International Forum on Democracy: The Shared Human Values” was held in Beijing on March 20. Chinese and foreign guests engaged in discussions on topics including “Democracy and Modern Governance,” “Democracy and the Rule of Law in the Digital Times,” “AI and the Future of Democracy” and “Democracy and Global Governance in a Multipolar World.”

Democracy is a common value of humanity and a concrete phenomenon that is constantly evolving. There are diverse ways for countries to realize democracy.

Guests attending the forum believe that there is no one-size-fits-all model of democracy. As long as it suits a country’s national realities and represents the interests of the people, it is a democracy that works. Countries should respect the diversity of civilizations and respect other countries’ rights to independently choose a path to democracy and the political system.

“Democracy should not be exported or imposed on other countries and regions,” said former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema. He believes that there are many ways to achieve democracy and it cannot be standardized. Exchanges and mutual learning sustain civilizations, he added.

Former deputy speaker of the lower house of the Malaysian Parliament, Ong Tee Keat, noted that the practice of democracy is greatly influenced by the history and culture of each country. He called for respect for the diversity of democracy, saying what matters most in democracy is the relevance of the people’s participation.

Former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said the world today lacks an effective and democratic global governance system. The international landscape has undergone significant changes, with many emerging market countries having a significant influence on global affairs. However, their representation and voice in international organizations remain inadequate.

“It is time to correct this imbalance in order to make the global governance system more fair and democratic,” he added.

Democracy is an important hallmark of the progress and development of human civilization, an ideal that has always been cherished by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Chinese people. Guests attending the forum believe that China has developed a path to democracy with Chinese characteristics after long-term exploration.

Hassan Ragab, Egyptian director of the Confucius Institute at the Suez Canal University in Egypt, said that Chinese democracy is not a direct copy of the Western model, but rather one that has been developed based on China’s historical and cultural traditions, and economic and social development.

Western democracy is not universally applicable, and the successful practice of Chinese democracy breaks the misconception that democracy can only be achieved through the Western way, he noted.

Chinese democracy is whole-process people’s democracy. Stephen Perry, president emeritus of Britain’s 48 Group Club, said that Chinese government hears its people and it tends to do what its people want. China has taken a democratic path that is in line with its national conditions, Perry noted, adding that China achieves democracy through a scientific method.

Zhang Shuhua, director of the institute of political sciences at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Chinese democracy is deeply rooted in the fertile soil of the Chinese culture and fully reflects the will of the Chinese people. It has effectively promoted the modernization of the country’s governance system and capacity, making significant contributions to the political civilization of humanity, Zhang noted.

The China-proposed vision of building a community with a shared future for mankind, as well as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI), and the Global Civilizations Initiative (GCI), have contributed Chinese wisdom and solutions to strengthening global governance and enriching and developing political civilization of humanity.

Participants at the forum believe that it is necessary to promote the building of a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, equity, justice and win-win cooperation, and to build a community with a shared future for mankind that is crucial for a better future of humanity.

Countries should build consensus, coexist harmoniously and be interdependent in a multipolar world, said Peter Kagwanja, the chief executive officer of the Africa Policy Institute (API), a Nairobi-based pan-African think tank.

The China-proposed BRI, GDI, GSI and GCI contribute to the building of a new type of international relations and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, Kagwanja said.

Chen Bo, president of the China Institute of International Studies, said that promoting equal and orderly world multipolarity and inclusive economic globalization requires following humanity’s common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom.

“Only by adhering to these common values of humanity can we continuously improve the global governance system and promote the development of multipolarity, and constantly advance the cause of human progress,” Chen remarked.