The People's Bank of China, the central bank, said on Friday that foreigners coming to China can flexibly choose diversified methods to pay in various scenarios, with the overall payment convenience significantly improved.
Over the past months, Chinese authorities, collaborating with commercial banks and retailer shops, have taken intensive steps to smooth payments for foreigners.
In April, China's central bank, along with several other government organs, jointly released a circular to make payments more accessible for foreigners visiting the country. The circular urged efforts to optimize bank card payment services, promote cash use, and facilitate mobile payment.
It followed a guideline issued by the country's State Council in early March, which detailed measures to help foreign nationals navigate different payment options in the country.
According to statistics from major bank card organizations, in June, there were 1.61 million overseas bank card payments with a total amount of 2.9 billion yuan, and the transaction volume basically doubled compared with February.
"The willingness of foreigners coming to China to use mobile payments has increased significantly. In the first half of 2024, more than five million inbound travelers used mobile payment, a four-fold increase year on year. More than 90 million transactions with the total amount of 14 billion yuan were made and both the number and amount of transactions increased sevenfold year on year," said Yan Fang, director of the Payment and Settlement Department of PBOC, at a press conference in Beijing on Friday.
Meanwhile, the financial institutions have taken effective measures to address the demand for foreign currency exchange. At present foreigners coming to China can easily exchange Chinese yuan at some 67,000 bank outlets, more than 4,200 foreign currency exchange facilities, and 320,000 ATMs across the country.
In the first half of the year, China's cash issuance increased by six percent year on year, of which the issuance of small notes below 20 yuan increased by 30 percent, and the role of cash as a safety net has been significantly improved.
China's payment convenience significantly improved: central bank
Los Angeles is grappling with rising costs and delays in its wildfire recovery process, as tariffs on construction materials imposed during the Trump administration compound the challenges.
The devastating wildfires recently destroyed over 17,000 homes and businesses, leaving communities urgently pushing forward with reconstruction.
The Trump administration has recently rolled out new tariffs on a wide range of construction materials, including steel and aluminum, from the main trading partners of the United States, such as Canada, Mexico, and China. This has significantly driven up costs, further complicating the recovery efforts
"As the city and county of Los Angeles move aggressively to rebuild the wildfire areas in Malibu, Pacific Palisades, and up in Altadena, to build those houses, we need softwood lumber, aluminum, and steel from Canada," said Gene Soroka, executive director of Port of Los Angeles.
While the tariffs aim to boost domestic production, the transition will take time. In the interim, the shortage of materials is creating ripple effects across the construction sector.
"We are still handling a lot of imported steel, despite the tariffs because there's not enough American manufacturing of steel right now. So, one of the unintended consequences that this has done the wrong way is you don't have enough steel. That impacts construction, that impacts economic growth across the board," said Weston Labar, chief strategy office of Waterfront Logistics.
According to the Associated General Contractors of America, housing costs could skyrocket by almost 50 percent, widening the gap between insurance payouts and actual rebuilding expenses. It may force many homeowners to delay or even abandon their reconstruction plans, prolonging the housing shortage in Los Angeles.
Tariffs are also driving up prices for other products, impacting recovery efforts.
"We need appliances from Mexico, furniture from China, and all of those prices are going up, whether anticipatory, or real as these imports are coming across our port complex. So, we've got to have some pretty detailed discussions about this because families who want to rebuild, businesses who want to get back into the office are going to be impacted by these tariffs one way or another," said Soroka.
As Los Angeles strives to recover, the economic uncertainty caused by tariffs presents a formidable obstacle.
Tariffs add strain to Los Angeles wildfire recovery efforts
