In 2023, the total transaction value of mobile payments in China decreased to 555 trillion yuan, around five percent up from the previous year. That year, there were more than 185 billion mobile payment transactions in the country.

Replacing cash

In China, mobile payments have long exceeded the realm of e-commerce and found their way into every facet of commerce. From purchasing goods online and offline to transactions between friends and family, people mostly rely on the two market leaders WeChat Pay and Alipay to make transactions. The two mobile payment platforms belong to internet giants Tencent and Alibaba.

Digitalizing the renminbi

Now that digital payments has almost replaced cash, the Chinese government is making the next push. Despite seamless instant and high effcieincy transactions, banks and other payment platforms are involved in the background. To further streamline the transaction process, the Chinese central bank introduced the digital Renminbi. As of late 2022, the currency was still in the testing phase and its use was limited to select regions. However, the long-term goals of Beijing include the control of capital flows, eventually challenging the U.S. dollar as a global currency.

China's short-form video platform Douyin is the leading global revenue generator in social commerce, with estimated revenues approaching 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. Despite its growing popularity, the international version of the app, TikTok, continues to lag considerably behind its Chinese counterpart, projecting revenues of over 20 billion dollars that same year. WeChat, also of Chinese origin, is in second place worldwide, with estimated revenues of almost 152 billion U.S. dollars. Meanwhile, Meta is betting on social commerce through Facebook and Instagram, projecting combined revenues of around 94 million dollars.