Vietnamese people can scan QR codes to pay in China from 2026

December 2, National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) in collaboration with UnionPay International (UPI), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam ( Vietcombank ) held a ceremony to announce the bilateral retail payment connection via QR code between Vietnam and China.

Delegates conduct a ceremony to announce bilateral retail payment connection via QR code between Vietnam and China. PHOTO: DT

After a period of technical implementation, the service has now been officially completed and is ready to be provided to the market.

In the initial phase, Chinese tourists can scan the VIETQRGlobal code to pay at payment acceptance points, including shopping malls, shopping areas, tourist attractions, restaurants and retail stores in Vietnam.

Connecting bilateral payment services via QR codes between Vietnam and China will help Vietnamese businesses attract a large number of Chinese visitors, while providing a fast, convenient and safe payment experience for tourists.

According to the plan, in early 2026, NAPAS and UPI will continue to complete the reverse payment connection, allowing Vietnamese users to scan QR codes using payment applications of NAPAS member organizations to make payments at payment acceptance units in the UnionPay network in China.

The two-way deployment will create a complete cross-border QR payment ecosystem, fully serving the consumption, travel, work and transportation needs of people in the two countries.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department (State Bank), said that in the first 9 months of this year, Vietnam welcomed over 15.4 million international visitors, an increase of 21.5% over the same period in 2024. Of which, China is the leading market sending the largest number of visitors to Vietnam with nearly 3.9 million visitors, an increase of 43.9% over the same period last year.

"Connecting cross-border payments via QR codes between Vietnam and China promises to bring huge convenience in local currency payments to Chinese tourists when coming to Vietnam, as well as Vietnamese tourists when coming to China.

We can imagine a scenario where millions of Vietnamese tourists use their own banking apps to scan QR codes in China to make payments quickly and vice versa," said Mr. Tuan.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh, General Director of NAPAS: " Connecting bilateral retail payments via QR codes between Vietnam and China not only brings a seamless and convenient payment experience to people of the two countries, but also contributes to strengthening financial connectivity, promoting the use of local currencies in cross-border payments, developing trade, tourism as well as broader economic cooperation between the two countries".

Previously, in October 2024, during the official visit of Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang to Vietnam, witnessed by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, UPI and NAPAS signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in implementing cross-border payment services via QR codes.

Next, UPI, NAPAS and two settlement banks from China and Vietnam, ICBC and Vietcombank, signed a four-party cooperation agreement, affirming their common commitment to deploying bilateral retail payment connections via QR codes between Vietnam and China.

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