Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Italian President Sergio Mattarella during their talks Friday in Beijing that each exchange between the two heads of state has helped deepen the friendship and enhance mutual trust between the two countries.
"You are the Chinese people's old friend and also my good friend. In recent years, Mr. President and I have successfully exchanged visits, and remained in close communication through phone calls and correspondence. Every exchange could deepen our friendship and enhance our mutual trust," Xi said.
"This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of China-Italy comprehensive strategic partnership. The world today is undergoing great changes unseen in a century. As two ancient civilizations, China and Italy should carry forward their traditions of openness and inclusiveness, push the international community to resolve differences through dialogs and transcend conflicts with cooperation, and join hands in building a beautiful world of harmonious coexistence," Xi said.
President Mattarella recalled his visit to China in 2017 and the reception of President Xi's visit to Italy in 2019, underscoring the importance of continued joint efforts to further strengthen the bilateral relationship.
"I am truly delighted to meet with you again today. I still vividly remember my first visit to China seven years ago, and your visit to Italy five years ago. It is a great pleasure to be back in China, as we continue to deepen our friendship and reaffirm our commitment to strengthening cooperation. We place great value on the dialog with China, as China plays an important role in global affairs. Our two countries enjoy a strong bilateral relationship, as you have just mentioned, built on a firm foundation. I hope that, together, we will accelerate our efforts and take our cooperation to even greater heights," said Mattarella.
Each exchange helps China, Italy deepen friendship, enhance trust: Xi
Each exchange helps China, Italy deepen friendship, enhance trust: Xi
Each exchange helps China, Italy deepen friendship, enhance trust: Xi
China has intensified efforts to streamline payment options for foreign visitors this year, aimed at enhancing their travel experience and boost inbound tourism, which has seen steady growth in recent years.
From January to November, the number of foreign arrivals in China surged by 86.2 percent year on year, reaching 29.2 million.
This influx of tourists has been accompanied by a significant rise in the use of foreign payment methods.
In the first half of this year alone, transaction volumes of foreigners using overseas wallet apps to pay for goods and services in China increased more than sevenfold, according to data from NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, a Chinese online payment clearing house under the People's Bank of China.
During the same period, the number of foreign wallet transactions in China hit 28.75 million, up 5.29 times from the previous year. Meanwhile, transaction volume reached 5.32 billion yuan (about 729 million U.S. dollars), a 7.67-fold increase from last year's figures.
Overseas bank cards are now widely accepted across China, and Chinese mobile payment giants Alipay and WeChat Pay have integrated Visa and Mastercard, allowing foreign visitors to pay seamlessly like locals. "We managed to link our two credit cards to Alipay, and everything worked fine. We looked on the Internet, there are some blogs that explain how to create your Alipay account and how to link your credit card. We only paid with the QR code, almost did not use cash," said a foreign visitor.
"Our collaboration with Alipay and WeChat, is just the first start. Really what it enabled is our global network, our global consumer base, and our global partner network with all the financial institutions. And also another good example is we just announced in September that the Beijing subway can accept direct Mastercard payment. So, as an inbound traveler to Beijing, for them to take subway, they just need to tap their Mastercard at the gate and they can enter the subway," said Dennis Chang, president of Mastercard Greater China.
In September, Beijing's subway system launched a service allowing passengers to tap their Mastercard or Visa card at the gate, eliminating the need for physical tickets.
Since Sept 13, a total of 490 stations across the city's subway network have adopted this new system, further improving convenience for foreign visitors.
China expands payment options for int'l inbound tourists
