China News Service, March 29: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism held a regular press conference for the first quarter of 2024 on the 29th. In response to the difficulty of payment for inbound tourists, Shi Zeyi, deputy director of the International Exchange and Cooperation Bureau of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, said that the general principle is "swipe cards for large amounts, scan codes for small amounts, and pay in cash." In the next step, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will With the support of banks, we will further promote the optimization of the inbound payment environment.
At the meeting, a reporter asked: Inconvenient payment is a problem that overseas tourists often report after coming to China. Does the Ministry of Culture and Tourism have corresponding policies and measures to solve the problem of payment inconvenience in tourism consumption scenarios?
In this regard, Shi Zeyi said that the problem of difficulty in paying for inbound tourists does exist. In recent years, the penetration rate of domestic mobile payment services based on mobile phones and other electronic devices has become higher and higher. People's daily needs such as food, clothing, housing, and transportation can basically be solved through a mobile phone. In contrast, mobile payment services are not yet popular in some countries, and foreign tourists find it less convenient to use traditional payment methods in China. Some people say that this is like a reverse "digital divide" forming between China and abroad. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to this issue and have established a special coordination mechanism to promote the solution of this problem.
Shi Zeyi introduced that not long ago, the General Office of the State Council had just issued the "Opinions on Further Optimizing Payment Services and Improving Payment Convenience" and proposed many specific measures. The general principle is "swipe cards for large amounts, scan codes for small amounts, and pay in cash." Large-amount card payment is based on the habit of foreign tourists paying by card, and POS machines are deployed in consumption scenarios such as scenic spots and hotels. At present, hotels such as five-star, four-star or even three-star and above in Shanghai have upgraded and renovated POS machines; airports, scenic spots, and shopping venues in many places have also installed wild card POS machines. Beijing is also accelerating the upgrading and transformation of wild card POS machines. For small-amount scanning, there are actually electronic wallets and other products at home and abroad, and it is not technically difficult to achieve interoperability. The main problem at present is that the procedures for foreign tourists to bind domestic mobile payment systems are relatively complicated. Currently, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is working with the platform and enterprises to study and solve technical and procedural issues. At the same time, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is also studying how to reduce the information that foreign tourists need to bind to domestic registration procedures, and try to increase the amount of small QR code scans while ensuring the safety of property to better meet the needs of tourists. When it comes to cash, RMB is legal tender and must be used in all consumption places.
Shi Zeyi emphasized that in the next step, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism will further promote the optimization of the inbound payment environment with the support of the People's Bank of China. Promote national 4A-level and above tourist attractions, national tourist resorts, national night culture and tourism consumption clusters, national tourist leisure streets, etc. to establish the software and hardware facilities required to accept mobile payments, bank cards, cash, etc. Payment facilitation upgrades will be carried out in key cultural and tourist venues such as resorts, cultural and museum venues, entertainment venues, star hotels, and cultural and commercial tourism complexes. Guide and support Internet platform companies closely related to "food, housing, transportation, travel, shopping, and entertainment" to optimize the payment experience for inbound personnel purchasing cultural and tourism products and services online and offline. With the implementation of a series of payment facilitation policies, the payment methods for overseas tourists traveling domestically will become more diversified and more convenient.