Shenzhen’s cross-border renminbi payments grew by 28 percent last year, setting a new record of 4.2 trillion yuan, China Daily reports. The boom made Guangdong’s tech hub the third-ranked city in China for cross-border renminbi payments.
Renminbi transactions between Shenzhen and Hong Kong accounted for 83 percent of 2023’s figure, after a year-on-year surge of more than a third. Hong Kongers increasingly use the mainland city for shopping, due to its comparative affordability.
The total number of non-cash payments made by Hong Kong residents in Shenzhen reportedly grew by more than 220 percent last year.
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To increase convenience for Hong Kong residents making payments in Shenzhen, the People’s Bank of China’s Shenzhen branch offers a wide range of cross-border payment options. These include digital RMB, mobile payments, card payments and cash.
In cooperation with Octopus Cards (a major electronic payment provider in Hong Kong), Shenzhen banks now issue e-CNY wallet cards near border checkpoints used by Hong Kong visitors. The cards enable people without mainland bank cards or mobile payment accounts to pay digitally when in the mainland.
In December, WeChat Pay HK recorded 14 times as many transactions on the mainland as it did at the start of 2023.
