Traveling from Latin America? Shenzhen, China, the city of the future, is now easier for you.

Get ready for easy travel! Shenzhen opens up to tourists with payment innovations! Shenzhen, China, the city of the future, is modernizing for its travelers! Forget the hassle of cash. The tech metropolis of Shenzhen, one of the most influential cities not only in Guangdong province but in all of China, has taken giant strides to make payments easier for foreign visitors, especially now that visa policies have been streamlined and the number of tourists has skyrocketed. And best of all: for travelers from countries like Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay , visas are no longer an issue !

Impressive facts:

•In the first half of the year, 85.88 million cashless payment transactions made by foreigners were recorded in Shenzhen, resulting in the not insignificant figure of 11.81 billion yuan (around $1.65 billion USD)

•This represents a 29% increase in the number of transactions and a 35% increase in value, compared to the figures from the previous year.

•South Korea, the United States, and Singapore are the main countries of origin for tourists who spend the most in Shenzhen, contributing almost 30% of total consumption.

•What do tourists spend their money on? Mainly on supermarket purchases and restaurants.

Why is Shenzhen now more tourist-friendly?

The key lies in innovation and simplification:

• Comprehensive service centers: The city has installed five service centers at airports and ports, offering everything a tourist needs: payments, communication, transportation, and more!
• An unexpected ally, WeChat Pay: This platform is one of the main ones used by residents of China to make payments and initially, it was only possible to link cards from accounts belonging to Chinese banks, but now the process has been simplified so that foreigners can connect their international cards.

Goodbye to payment complications!

According to Song Jiezhang, deputy director of the payments and settlement division of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) branch, the city is working tirelessly to improve the payment experience for foreigners by optimizing usage scenarios, innovating products, tailoring services to different groups, and conducting regular inspections.

Boom in tourism and cross-border finance:

As expected, the latest visa waiver policies have led to a surge in tourist arrivals and, consequently, increased demand for convenient payment methods accessible to foreigners. The numbers don't lie: Over 3.43 million inbound and outbound trips were made through Shenzhen's ports in the first half of the year—a 39.2% year-on-year increase!

Furthermore, cross-border financial services in Shenzhen are booming. Cross-border income and payments in renminbi (yuan) reached 2.76 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.3%!

Why this boom?

Yu Lingqu, deputy director of the financial development and state-owned asset research department at the China Development Institute, a Shenzhen-based think tank, explains that this rapid development is due to:

1. Shenzhen's pioneering spirit: The city was among the first to implement nationwide financial initiatives, such as the internationalization of the renminbi and the liberalization of the capital account. Beyond this, the city itself has become the country's innovation hub, and many of the nation's largest companies are headquartered in Shenzhen. Notable examples include Tencent, BYD, Huawei, and ZTE, among many others.
2. The connection with the Greater Bay Area: Shenzhen has strengthened its ties with its neighbor Hong Kong in various areas, from innovation to industrial progression, so its accelerated development has led to a boost in demand for cross-border financial services.

In short: Shenzhen is becoming an increasingly attractive and accessible destination for Latin American tourists. With the elimination of visa requirements for citizens of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay, and the ease of digital payments, there's no excuse not to visit this amazing city!