Gotrade News - Bank Indonesia officially launched its cross-border QR payment link with China on Wednesday (30/04). The activation makes China the sixth country connected to QRIS, Indonesia's national QR-code payment standard run by the central bank.
The link works in both directions for travellers between the two economies. Indonesian visitors can scan to pay Chinese merchants, while Chinese visitors can pay Indonesian merchants directly through their domestic apps.
Key Takeaways:
- Bank Indonesia activated QRIS-China cross-border payments on Wednesday (30/04).
- Rupiah-yuan local-currency transactions already total US$18 billion.
- Alipay and UnionPay are integrated at launch, while WeChat Pay remains in technical review.
BI Governor Perry Warjiyo said the corridor removes the need for currency exchange counters. "Just use your phone, and voila, you can buy anything," Perry told reporters at the launch, according to Kompas.
He urged Indonesian and Chinese travellers to stop relying on cash on cross-border trips. Mobile payment is now positioned as the default tourism rail between the two markets.
The system rides on the existing Local Currency Transaction framework that settles directly in rupiah and yuan. Bilateral LCT flows have already reached US$18 billion, according to Bloomberg Technoz.
The addressable merchant pool is substantial on both sides. Indonesia hosts roughly 44 to 45 million SMEs, while China counts close to several hundred million business operators across goods and services.
Indonesian Payment System Association (ASPI) Chairman Santoso Liem highlighted the scale opportunity. "The market in these two countries is very big," Santoso said, as quoted by Liputan6.
Not every Chinese wallet is live on day one. Alipay and UnionPay are fully integrated with QRIS, while WeChat Pay and MPC are still under technical exploration.
Santoso explained that Chinese providers are first consolidating their own internal QR standards. The cross-border interconnection with WeChat Pay will follow once that domestic harmonisation is complete.
Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong framed the launch as a digital cooperation milestone. He described the corridor as a foundation for joint financial-technology innovation between the two countries.
BI is targeting QRIS coverage in eight countries by end-2026. India and Saudi Arabia are next on the expansion roadmap after the China link goes live.
We see the launch as a structural boost for tourism-linked consumer spending in both directions. It also formalises a low-friction payment rail for Indonesian SMEs serving the inbound Chinese tourist market.
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