Alipay, Alibaba's payment arm, announced a partnership with the United States online payment startup Stripe.

 

Under the agreement, overseas merchants who use Stripe's payment software can now detect if shoppers are located on the Chinese mainland and give them the option of paying through their Alipay accounts.

 

The move is expected to be warmly welcomed by Chinese shoppers who are not happy with providing their credit card details to overseas websites but who use Alipay as an alternative payment solution.

 

Alipay is the country's largest third-party payment service provider.

 

Alipay, with more than 300 million registered users in China, announced a partnership with Swiss tax refund company Global Blue. They are launching a service to enable Chinese tourists to receive tax refunds on their shopping paid directly into their Alipay accounts.

 

In the past year, Alipay has combined with partners in a number of countries. Deals signed include allowing users to pay airfares through travel payment network UATP and payment for accommodation at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore and for goods at South Korean shopping mall Lotte.com.

 

Alipay's expansion abroad comes amid surging overseas spending by Chinese consumers.

 

Chinese tourists have been the world's top spenders since 2012 and bought 129 billion USD worth of goods and services overseas last year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

 

People who do not travel abroad are increasingly eager to place orders on overseas online marketplaces directly or to buy through proxy agents. 

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