Online retail is massive in China and it’s only getting bigger. In fact, the Chinese e-commerce market totaled $672 billion in 2017 — the largest contributor to the $4 trillion global e-commerce market — and cross-border e-commerce transactions into the country are projected to reach $1.32 trillion in 2018.

In order to support the influx of global payments sent to the Chinese e-commerce market and provide a superior customer experience, LianLian International — a leading Chinese money service company licensed in Hong Kong with 150 million registered users in the region — has joined RippleNet to receive real-time, cross-border remittances, invoice payments and e-commerce payments.

LianLian will use xCurrent — Ripple’s settlement solution that offers end-to-end tracking — to power cross-border transactions between China, the U.S., and Europe.

LianLian joins Ripple’s existing network of more than 100 financial institutions to provide faster, cheaper, and frictionless cross-border payment solutions to its customers.

xCurrent powers cheaper, more efficient transactions

Each year, LianLian processes billions in payments between merchants and consumers including major online retail sites, such as Amazon, Ali Express, and eBay — making it one of the largest money service companies serving China’s massive e-commerce market.

“LianLian International is a leader in payout experience both into and out of China, as evidenced by the large number of our merchants and partners,” said LianLian CEO Arthur Zhu.“

“With RippleNet, we will further enhance that experience and increase our market share by offering customers instant, blockchain-powered payments across the 19 currencies that we currently support. We look forward to working with Ripple to power payment flows between China and RippleNet members in new markets.”

xCurrent is Ripple’s enterprise software solution that enables banks to instantly settle cross-border payments with end-to-end tracking. xCurrent will dramatically increase efficiency, opening the door for a higher volume of transactions between merchants and consumers in China and other markets.

LianLian International a connection into China for RippleNet members

The addition of LianLian also serves as a major gateway into China for other members of RippleNet. With financial institutions already in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and India on RippleNet, transaction volume between members can occur more efficiently and cost-effectively.

“Cross-border payments related to China’s e-commerce market reached $1.07 trillion in 2017. There is a huge opportunity to make these payments quicker and more cost-efficient,” said Emi Yoshikawa, director of joint venture partnerships at Ripple.

“With RippleNet, LianLian International will now be able to give merchants and consumers quicker, more cost-efficient payments into China, which they weren’t able to before. We also look forward to connecting other RippleNet members to LianLian.”

The addition of LianLian is yet another step forward in Ripple’s mission of furthering the Internet of Value. By connecting and powering cross-border payments between financial institutions such as LianLian and their customers across the globe, Ripple believes it can help money move the same way digital information moves — instantly.