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Update: Tech giant Tencent launches payment app for inbound visitors as "China Travel" surges. Xinhua 25 Sep 2026, 08:48 GMT+ SHENZHEN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) - China's tech giant Tencent on Thursday launched TenPayGo, a payment app for overseas users traveling to China. This new platform is designed to make payments more convenient for inbound visitors as the country sees a growing number of international travelers. The app supports bank cards issued overseas by seven major international card organizations including Visa and Mastercard, as well as Apple Pay and overseas e-wallets such as Starryblu, Tencent said. After linking a payment method, users can scan and pay directly through TenPayGo, according to Tencent. The company unveiled the app at an international payment services launch event in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. TenPayGo will also enable overseas visitors to activate a ride code for Shenzhen's buses and metro, with no phone number or transit card required. In addition, TenPayGo will further expand its in-app services, pledging to connect payment with consumption scenarios, such as departure tax refunds and AI-powered translation of menus, the Shenzhen-based company added. Dong Ximiao, chief economist at Merchants Union Consumer Finance Company Limited, noted that TenPayGo allows inbound visitors to travel across China with a single smartphone, which is set to further improve their travel experience. The launch of TenPayGo came after Tencent announced in May a landmark integration of its extensive payment network with PayPal, enabling U.S. visitors to pay like locals in China via QR codes. The partnership connects Tencent's cross-border payments platform TenPay Global with PayPal World, a global platform connecting the world's largest payment systems and digital wallets. Tencent's WeChat, which serves as a multifunctional app beyond social media and messaging, offers digital payment services known as Weixin Pay in the Chinese mainland. The launch of TenPayGo by Weixin Pay comes amid a surge in foreign visitor spending. Data from Weixin Pay showed that in the first eight months of this year, the value and number of overseas e-wallet transactions in China increased by 80.6 percent and 81.8 percent year on year, respectively. The payment growth came as "China Travel" surged, driven by the country's measures to facilitate inbound tourism, including the expansion of visa-free policies and improved departure tax refunds. Official data showed that foreign nationals made nearly 61.29 million border crossings in the January-August period, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier. Visa-free entries accounted for 23.72 million of the total, up 26.8 percent from a year earlier. To better cater to the increasing payment demand, Tencent said it will carry out cooperation with domestic online payment-clearing house NetsUnion and work to connect more overseas e-wallets with its payment network, in a bid to enable more overseas users to scan to pay when traveling in China.

Update: Tech giant Tencent launches payment app for inbound visitors as "China Travel" surges. Xinhua 25 Sep 2026, 08:48 GMT+10 SHENZHEN, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) - China's tech giant Tencent on Thursday launched TenPayGo, a payment app for overseas users traveling to China. This new platform is designed to make payments more convenient for inbound visitors as the country sees a growing number of international travelers. The app supports bank cards issued overseas by seven major international card organizations including Visa and Mastercard, as well as Apple Pay and overseas e-wallets such as Starryblu, Tencent said. After linking a payment method, users can scan and pay directly through TenPayGo, according to Tencent. The company unveiled the app at an international payment services launch event in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. TenPayGo will also enable overseas visitors to activate a ride code for Shenzhen's buses and metro, with no phone number or transit card required. In addition, TenPayGo will further expand its in-app services, pledging to connect payment with consumption scenarios, such as departure tax refunds and AI-powered translation of menus, the Shenzhen-based company added. Dong Ximiao, chief economist at Merchants Union Consumer Finance Company Limited, noted that TenPayGo allows inbound visitors to travel across China with a single smartphone, which is set to further improve their travel experience. The launch of TenPayGo came after Tencent announced in May a landmark integration of its extensive payment network with PayPal, enabling U.S. visitors to pay like locals in China via QR codes. The partnership connects Tencent's cross-border payments platform TenPay Global with PayPal World, a global platform connecting the world's largest payment systems and digital wallets. Tencent's WeChat, which serves as a multifunctional app beyond social media and messaging, offers digital payment services known as Weixin Pay in the Chinese mainland. The launch of TenPayGo by Weixin Pay comes amid a surge in foreign visitor spending. Data from Weixin Pay showed that in the first eight months of this year, the value and number of overseas e-wallet transactions in China increased by 80.6 percent and 81.8 percent year on year, respectively. The payment growth came as "China Travel" surged, driven by the country's measures to facilitate inbound tourism, including the expansion of visa-free policies and improved departure tax refunds. Official data showed that foreign nationals made nearly 61.29 million border crossings in the January-August period, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier. Visa-free entries accounted for 23.72 million of the total, up 26.8 percent from a year earlier. To better cater to the increasing payment demand, Tencent said it will carry out cooperation with domestic online payment-clearing house NetsUnion and work to connect more overseas e-wallets with its payment network, in a bid to enable more overseas users to scan to pay when traveling in China.

Circle Games raises $25m in Series A led by Tencent. The Istanbul-based studio has now raised $32.25m in total September 24, 2026 * Existing investors e2vc, BITKRAFT Ventures, APY Ventures and a16z Speedrun also participated. * Circle Games plans to expand Jelly Escape into additional markets. * The studio aims to at least double its employee count and develop more mobile games. Istanbul-based mobile game studio Circle Games has raised $25 million in a Series A round led by Tencent, taking its total investment to $32.25m. As reported by SwipeLine, Circle Games plans to use the new funding to bring its recently released Jelly Escape to additional markets while continuing to grow Sort Express worldwide. The studio also plans to at least double its employee count and expand its product portfolio with new mobile games. Circle Games released its first puzzle game, Sort Express globally, with its team focusing on user experience and data analysis during development. Expanding the portfolio Circle Games co-founder and CEO Göktürk Balıkcı said Sort Express demonstrated that the studio had taken the right approach to the puzzle genre, while the latest funding gives the team resources to expand that approach. "In order to be successful in the puzzle genre, it is necessary to establish the details correctly and not to lose that care as the game grows," said Circle Games co-founder and CEO Göktürk Balıkcı. "Sort Express showed us that we had the right approach. "The real owner of this success is our team, which does not publish any work that it is not proud of. With Tencent leading this round and continuing the support of our investors, who have been with us since day one, we have the resources to take this approach much further. "We aim to grow our team with people who set the same bar for themselves and make Circle Games one of the most successful game studios to come out of Turkey." Existing investors e2vc, BITKRAFT Ventures, APY Ventures and a16z Speedrun also participated in the round. Circle Games previously raised $7.25m in a seed round completed in July 2025.