The Indonesia–China QR payment connectivity was officially launched at an event held at Bank Indonesia in Jakarta, marking a new milestone in seamless cross-border digital payments and financial interoperability between the two economies.
A major milestone in regional financial technology has been achieved as Indonesia and China officially launched a cross-border QR payment linkage connecting Indonesia’s QRIS system with China’s leading payment ecosystems. The initiative is supported by Bank Indonesia and People’s Bank of China, and enabled through Ant International’s Alipay+ unified wallet gateway alongside UnionPay International.
The system allows users from both countries to make seamless QR code payments using their home e-wallets. Through this interoperability, Chinese users can pay at more than 40 million QRIS merchants in Indonesia—most of which are MSMEs—while Indonesian users can scan over 80 million Alipay and UnionPay QR codes across China.
The rollout strengthens digital payment connectivity between two of Asia’s largest economies, unlocking smoother tourism and trade flows. In 2025 alone, Chinese visitor arrivals to Indonesia reached 1.34 million, making frictionless payment systems a key driver of merchant revenue growth, especially for small businesses that make up over 99% of Indonesian enterprises.
From a technology standpoint, the system is powered by Alipay+, a unified wallet gateway that enables interoperability between national payment networks. It allows users to pay using local wallets while merchants receive settlements through existing domestic systems—removing the need for additional hardware or integration.
The initiative is also aligned with broader efforts to promote local currency settlement in cross-border transactions, improving exchange rate transparency and reducing friction in digital tourism and trade.
Industry leaders emphasized that interoperability is now central to the future of global payments, with Ant International highlighting its role in connecting over 2 billion user accounts across more than 150 million merchants worldwide.
As adoption expands, the QRIS–China linkage is expected to accelerate digital payment usage, strengthen financial inclusion, and further integrate Southeast Asia into the global digital economy.
