Small wonder, Chinese digital payment service providers such as Alipay and WeChat Pay of Tencent Holdings Ltd are stepping up their expansion abroad.

As I see it, the expansion of China's mobile payment service providers overseas has much significance. It is not just about an increasing number of Chinese people traveling abroad.

Eric Jing, executive chairman and CEO of Ant Financial, said in September that Alipay looks forward to working with a wide range of Japanese partners. In doing so, it will contribute in some way to driving city-level economies across Japan.

Alipay said its collaborations with Japanese partners will seek to build a cashless environment for tourists coming to Japan, in particular for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.