How to get paid in China eCommerce? To pick the right eCommerce payment solution is also a very important decision to make for foreign businesses.

You may already hear that instead of debit/credit cards, 3rd party online payment like Alipay and WeChat is the most widely used eCommerce payment in China. However, many are not aware that Your business must meet certain requirements to use Alipay or WeChat pay to receive payments.

Is your business qualified to adopt these online payments? If not, are there any good alternatives?

Do you have registered business in China?

Fact is: you are eligible for acquiring Alipay/WeChat pay if you have a registered company in China.

If you don’t have a registered business in China, unfortunately, you cannot directly receive RMB payment. Since your Chinese customers are paying in RMB obviously, you need a 3rd party as an intermediate.

Depending on what currency you want to receive, there are three kinds of 3rd party payment solutions you can choose from. See details in the flowchart below:

Comparison of Cross-Border Payment Solutions

Since you don’t have a registered business in China yet, your foreign company needs payment in local currency, eventually. Therefore, your ideal cross-border payment option will have the ability to convert buyer’s RMB payment in real-time and settle the payment to you in a foreign currency. Your options are:

1) Alipay & WeChat Pay Global.

The official cross-border payment solution from two payment giants, covering web payments, mobile payments, and offline payment.

Alipay cross-border payment

Trustworthy as they are, the concern is: the application process for small & medium foreign enterprise can be tough. Both are targeting big retail brands worldwide like Ashford, Rakuten and Macy’s, so whether your call will be answered remains uncertain.

2) 3rd party payment gateway solution.

Companies like NihaoPay and Adyen provides APIs to help currency settlement during the checkout process.

By integrating their APIs, you will be able to accept a payment from Chinese bankcards directly as well as AliPay and Wechat Pay payment platforms. This could be a faster and easier route for your cross-border eCommerce business in China.

However, if you insist RMB payment, below is your option:

3) To partner with a China company.

As mentioned, the non-Chinese company cannot receive RMB payment, so this China 3rd party agency will fill in the void. This company will accept the payment for you first, and they will transfer the money to you later.

You must understand that in this scheme, Chinese customers are paying to them directly. With that being said, you need to make sure whether your Chinese partner is legitimate and reliable.

Sell to China eCommerce? We can help.

As a developing pioneer in China, TMO Group knows China eCommerce ecosystem well, and we will give you the service and quality workmanship that is well expected.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions regarding cross-border eCommerce solutions that you may have.