Shenzhen, China – UnionPay has recently released the “Qianhai Smart Payment Service Support Plan for the 2026 APEC ‘China Year’”, aimed at making payments easier for international visitors to Shenzhen.
According to the company, the plan covers bank cards, QR code payments and mobile contactless payments. UnionPay said international UnionPay cards and partner wallets can be used directly in mainland China, and that international UnionPay cards can also be added to China-based wallets. Visitors can swipe international UnionPay cards or add them to mobile payment services such as Apple Pay for tap-and-go payments.
For QR code payments, UnionPay said more than 200 overseas partner wallets from over 37 countries and regions can read and process UnionPay QR codes in mainland China. Cardholders can also link their UnionPay cards to apps such as the Nihao China App, Alipay and WeChat Pay. The Nihao China App also supports top-ups to its in-app Tour Wallet from bank cards issued by Visa, MasterCard, JCB and Diners Club, in addition to international UnionPay cards.
To address language barriers, UnionPay said it has worked with partners to launch an AI-powered smart large-screen POS terminal and the P18 smart multilingual POS terminal. Both support voice-based interaction and real-time translation in 14 languages, including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and French.
The terminals also include international card acceptance and departure tax refund guidance, allowing visitors to complete the process without human assistance. The company added that it will soon launch smart glasses integrated with the Nihao China App.
UnionPay said it has also worked on its acceptance environment. Payment acceptance quality in commercial districts such as Uniway, Chow Tai Fook, K11 and Sea World has been raised to the standards of “Shenzhen Seamless Payment Commercial Districts”.
The company has set up a regular mechanism for payment service specialists and provides training on the Nihao China App and on international cards and wallets.
It has also built the “Nihao Shenzhen” AI-powered Smart Payment Service Zone at Uniway, which brings together multilingual terminals, international card acceptance, departure tax refunds and inbound payment guidance. A total of 38 key merchants have completed acceptance upgrades for international cards and wallets.
