A buyer compares foreign goods on a cross-border e-commerce website with products sold at a market in Henan Province. Photo: IC

Fifteen out of 30 online payment platforms in China have been granted licenses to offer foreign exchange cross-border payment services, which will facilitate cross-border settlement in trade, tourism and overseas education sectors, media reported. 

After years of experimenting with the service, payment institutions can now offer it with official licenses. Experts said a boom in China's cross-border payment market is expected in the near future. 

"Due to the growing demand for cross-border settlement, there will be great potential in the field," Lian Ping, head of Zhixin Investment Research Institute, told the Global Times on Thursday, noting competition will be very fierce. 

Though some Chinese payment institutions may have entered overseas markets later than their foreign counterparts, they have greater potential of rapid growth as China's market size is increasing as shown by closer economic bonds with foreign countries, particularly in the trade and tourism sectors, Lian said. 

It has been five years since China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) permitted 30 pilot institutions to provide a foreign exchange cross-border settlement service, which includes cross-border trade, overseas education, tourism and international conferences. 

In April 2019, SAFE issued a guideline to facilitate cross-border e-commerce settlement, requiring pilot institutions to register, establish sound risk management systems and enhance transaction authenticity and compliance audits. 

With China's opening-up progress gaining speed, cross-border payment is a key for most payment institutions. 

Take China's cross-border e-commerce for an example. The market saw 8.8 trillion yuan ($1.24 trillion) in transactions in 2018, more than 20 percent of which were import e-commerce sales, according to industry website China Internet Watch. 

Experts noted that in addition to those in the US and the EU, cross-border e-commerce settlement markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia have seen fast growth in recent years. They urged China's payment institutions to grasp market opportunities. 

Global Times