40 years on

China’s evolving payment mode epitomizes the country’s achievements since 1978.

When the market-oriented economy developed rapidly from the 1980s, commodity ration coupons, the major form of payment in the planned economy, could no longer keep up with the desire to consume and were replaced by cash. Editor’s note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy.

As China became an increasingly popular destination for international travel, payment methods like bank cards and credit cards were introduced.

MasterCard first came to China in the early 1980s, with the ambition of leading a consumer revolution. In 1985, the Zhuhai branch of Bank of China issued the first bank card and credit card in China.

This China Daily story from June 5, 2000, shows the Beijing Friendship Store becoming the first foreigneroriented store in the capital to accept credit cards for payment.

However, credit cards hit an unexpectedly bumpy road in China. Decades after their introduction, the per capita ownership of credit cards stood at just 0.39 by the end of last year, about 10 percent of that in the United States.

Thanks to the rapid develLed opment of the internet and smartphones, mobile payment modes mushroomed. The first were made possible by scanning a QR code and paying with an app on a smartphone.

According to iiMedia Research, 562 million people made mobile payments in China last year, up 21.6 percent year-on-year.

by Alipay and WeChat Pay, China’s mobile payment revolution is now starting to gain ground in overseas markets.