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Tencent Holdings on Thursday launched TenPayGo, a mobile payment app targeting foreign visitors, as the tech giant seeks to capture China’s growing inbound tourism market ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen.
Developed by Tencent’s WeChat Pay team, TenPayGo allowed international travellers to make payments at tens of millions of shops, restaurants and attractions across the WeChat Pay network by linking their credit cards or their home-country digital wallets to the app, according to a company announcement on Thursday.
The app supports seven international card networks, including Visa and Mastercard, as well as about 60 overseas digital wallets, with Starryblu from Singapore among the first batch of partners.
Previously available in limited test versions on Apple’s App Store and Google Play, the app requires an email address to register, offering a simpler onboarding process for overseas travellers. Many apps in China require users to sign up with a local phone number.
Beyond mobile payments, TenPayGo allows foreign visitors to access Shenzhen’s buses and metro systems using a QR code within the app, eliminating the need for a local phone number or a physical transport card.
Leveraging Tencent’s artificial intelligence capabilities, the app also offers instant menu translation to help users order food and allows them to identify objects by scanning and circling items on the screen.
Tencent was also working with local banks to add a tax-refund feature, according to the company.
The launch of TenPayGo, Tencent’s first mobile payment app designed specifically for international visitors travelling to China, comes as the company’s home city prepares for an influx of foreign visitors during the Apec summit.
Shenzhen, a tech hub in southern China’s Guangdong province, will host this year’s Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November, becoming the third Chinese city to do so after Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.
The launch also underscores Tencent’s efforts to tap into a rise in international arrivals in recent years.
Tencent has been expanding its support for international digital wallets, allowing travellers to use them to make payments in China through their domestic apps without downloading WeChat.
Its partnership with PayPal earlier this year enabled US travellers to pay WeChat Pay merchants in China directly through the PayPal app.
As inbound tourism gains momentum, transactions made through overseas accounts on WeChat Pay in China surged by more than 80 per cent in the first eight months of 2026, in both volume and value from a year earlier, according to Tencent.


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The app allows overseas visitors to make payments across WeChat Pay’s network using foreign cards and digital wallets


The app allows overseas visitors to make payments across WeChat Pay’s network using foreign cards and digital wallets.


Tencent rolls out payment app for foreign travellers ahead of Apec summit

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The app allows overseas visitors to make payments across WeChat Pay’s network using foreign cards and digital wallets

The app allows overseas visitors to make payments across WeChat Pay’s network using foreign cards and digital wallets