UnionPay partners with 26th CIFIT to advance payment processing

On September 8, China's 26th International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) commenced at the Xiamen International Expo Center, with a focus on expanding international investment and facilitating global progress. Among the participating organizations, UnionPay, the official payment partner, highlighted its key achievements in international expansion and technological progress. UnionPay's Chairman, Dong Junfeng, was present at the event.

UnionPay has successfully established its payment network in 183 countries and regions, encompassing a network of over 100 million merchants outside China. The company's cards have been issued in 84 countries, and mobile payment services are accessible in more than 100 markets. UnionPay's QR payment integration is being expanded to work with local payment networks in various global locations.

Currently, UnionPay's QR payments are accepted at over 46 million merchants worldwide, and over 200 UnionPay-standard wallets have been established in 37 countries and regions.

At the CIFIT event, UnionPay presented its global payment network, emphasizing its three-pronged approach that focuses on acceptance, card issuance, and cross-border QR payment linkages. Leveraging advanced global switching, clearing infrastructure, and payment technologies, UnionPay has developed digital payment solutions specifically for emerging trade subsectors, such as cross-border e-commerce, flight and hotel services.

The company has introduced the Virtual Commercial Card (VCC), a digital corporate card solution designed for global enterprises. The VCC offers over-the-air provisioning and global acceptance, ensuring efficient, secure, and controlled digital payment services for online travel agencies and cross-border e-commerce clients. UnionPay fosters open cooperation to promote a connected cross-border payment ecosystem, providing a unified set of technical standards for agentic payment use cases through its Agentic Payment Open Protocol (APOP).

This protocol is accessible through UnionPay's Open Platform, with initial partners including domestic and international commercial banks, AI agents, technology firms, merchants, and acquirers. The platform has facilitated pilot transactions for hotel reservations, in-vehicle agent-assisted purchases, AI-enabled flight booking, utility payments within the UnionPay App, and smart in-store ordering services.

UnionPay's Nihao China App serves as a comprehensive digital service platform targeting inbound visitors to China. The app enables users to pay with their international cards and supports mainstream Chinese QR code payments in both merchant and customer presentation modes. Additionally, the app facilitates transactions at over 300 mobile apps, including taxi hailing, train and plane ticket purchases, and subway rides in numerous Chinese cities.

Offering 27 languages, including Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, and Russian, the Nihao China App incorporates an AI assistant capable of understanding and responding to text prompts in 119 languages, and voice-based Q&A in 35 languages. As of July 2026, the app has amassed over 800,000 downloads globally. UnionPay is continuously enhancing the Nihao China App to streamline the payment experience for inbound visitors and expand payment connectivity between China's mainland and the rest of the world.