Around the world
Alipay partnership with Zapper
Alipay, China’s largest mobile payment tool, on Thursday announced a partnership with its counterpart Zapper in South Africa to increase its presence overseas.
Under the partnership, Chinese tourists will be able to settle payments in yuan at 10,000 merchants across South Africa, as well as search for local restaurants, bars and adventure parks via the Alipay app, according to a statement Alipay sent to the Global Times.
The development follows Alipay’s launch of payment services for bus tickets in Cape Town and Johannesburg in June this year.
More than 110,000 Chinese tourists visited South Africa in 2016, up 38 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the South African Department of Tourism.
Nigeria hydropower contract
Nigeria has approved the construction of a $5.8 billion hydroelectric power plant by a Chinese State company, the Nigerian power minister said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of Chinese deals since the project was first envisioned decades ago.
The project could provide a much-needed source of energy for Nigeria. Despite its wealth of crude oil, Africa’s largest economy has long struggled with rickety power infrastructure.
The 3,050-megawatt Mambilla hydroelectric plant has been in the planning stage for more than three decades. Various administrations have pledged to begin work, signing contracts and memoranda of understanding, but next to nothing has been done.
Nigeria’s cabinet signed off on the award of the contract to build Mambilla to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp, Babatunde Fashola, the minister of power, works and housing, told reporters.
CRRC losses New York subway bid
China’s largest trainmaker CRRC Corp has lost a bid for a $3.2 billion deal for a subway project in New York City, which is said to be the largest deal the company has pursued overseas, caixin.com reported on Thursday, citing a source.
The source did not give any details on why the company lost the bid or which company won. The deal involves more than 1,000 units of trains and could have been a “remarkable” step for CRRC, which has been taking an aggressive approach in pursuing overseas projects.