Tencent rolls out payment app for foreign travellers ahead of Apec summit

Tencent announced the launch of TenPayGo, a mobile payment application aimed at foreign tourists, as the company seeks to capitalize on China's expanding inbound tourism market ahead of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in Shenzhen. Developed by Tencent's WeChat Pay team, TenPayGo enables international visitors to make payments at thousands of shops, restaurants, and attractions within the WeChat Pay network by linking their credit cards or home-country digital wallets to the app.

The app supports major international card networks like Visa and Mastercard, as well as numerous overseas digital wallets, with Starryblu from Singapore among the first partners. TenPayGo requires only an email address for registration, providing a more straightforward onboarding process compared to other Chinese apps that often demand a local phone number.

In addition to mobile payments, the app allows foreign visitors to utilize Shenzhen's public transportation system using a QR code within the app, bypassing the need for a local phone number or physical transport card. Leveraging Tencent's artificial intelligence technology, TenPayGo offers instant menu translation and object identification through scanning and circling items on the screen.

The app's launch comes as Shenzhen prepares for a significant influx of foreign visitors during the Apec summit, which will be hosted in the city in November. Tencent's efforts to tap into the growing number of international arrivals in China are evident, with inbound tourism generating an 80% surge in transactions made through overseas accounts on WeChat Pay in the first eight months of 2026, both in volume and value compared to the previous year.