On December 2, the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS), in collaboration with UnionPay International (UPI), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), held a ceremony to launch the Vietnam–China cross-border QR code payment service.
This event marks an important milestone in connecting the payment systems of the two countries, enabling safe and seamless cross-border transactions while encouraging trade and tourism exchanges between Vietnam and China.
Attendees included Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department at the State Bank of Vietnam; Mr. Nguyen Trung Khanh, Director General of the Vietnam National Authority of Tourism; Mr. Larry Wang, Vice President and CEO of UnionPay International; Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh, CEO of NAPAS; Mr. Nguyen Dang Hung, Deputy CEO of NAPAS; Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, Deputy CEO of NAPAS; Mr. Sun FengLei, General Manager of ICBC Hanoi Branch and Chairman of the Chinese Business Association in Vietnam; and Ms. Phung Nguyen Hai Yen, Deputy CEO of Vietcombank.
In October 2024, during the official visit of Chinese Premier Li Qiang to Vietnam, in the presence of the two Prime Ministers, UPI and NAPAS signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cross-border QR payment cooperation. Subsequently, UPI, NAPAS, and the two settlement banks—ICBC and Vietcombank—signed a four-party cooperation agreement, reaffirming their commitment to establishing bilateral retail payment connectivity via QR code between Vietnam and China.
After a period of technical implementation with close and effective coordination among parties, the service is now officially completed and ready for market launch.
In the initial stage, Chinese tourists can scan the VIETQRGlobal code to make payments at acceptance points like shopping malls, retail stores, tourist attractions, restaurants, and other outlets in Vietnam. With a network of leading retail, food and beverage, and travel brands such as Central Retail Vietnam supermarkets, Highland Coffee chain, and Sun World ecosystem, this bilateral QR payment connection will help Vietnamese businesses attract Chinese customers while providing fast, convenient, and secure payment experiences.
As outlined in our roadmap, by early 2026, NAPAS and UnionPay International will finalize Vietnam’s outbound payment connection. This will enable Vietnamese users to scan QR codes through mobile banking apps of NAPAS member banks to pay at UnionPay merchants in China. This two-way connection will build a comprehensive cross-border QR payment system, meeting consumers’ needs for travel, shopping, business trips, and daily expenses in both countries.
Vietnam is an important economic and trade partner and a key outbound tourism destination for China. Over the past two decades, UnionPay has expanded extensively in Vietnam, establishing a wide network of payment services. This cross-border QR code project leverages local-currency settlement to promote RMB internationalization. Optimizing cross-border payment experiences will further facilitate economic, trade, and people-to-people exchanges between China and Vietnam. UnionPay will continue to strengthen cooperation with NAPAS to build an open, secure, and efficient regional payment ecosystem, contributing to ASEAN’s digital payment infrastructure and driving sustainable financial connectivity across the region,” said Mr. Larry Wang, Vice President & CEO of UnionPay International.
Mr. Nguyen Quang Minh, CEO of NAPAS, shared: Under the guidance of the State Bank of Vietnam, NAPAS, as the national retail payment infrastructure operator, has proactively expanded international connectivity to implement cross-border payment solutions. The bilateral QR payment connection between Vietnam and China is the result of close cooperation among NAPAS, UPI, and partner banks. This service not only delivers seamless and convenient payment experiences for people of both countries but also strengthens financial connectivity, promotes local currency usage in cross-border transactions, and fosters trade, tourism, and broader economic cooperation between the two nations.”
In this project, all parties have jointly developed and deployed a modern digital payment infrastructure, step by step integrating the payment ecosystems of the two countries in a synchronized, secure manner aligned with international standards. The project aims to provide users from both countries with a fast, convenient and secure cross-border payment method, meeting the rapidly growing demand in the context of increasingly robust trade, tourism and bilateral cooperation between Vietnam and China.
Building on the existing VIETQR standard used for NAPAS 247 fast transfers, NAPAS upgraded technical standards in early 2025 to standardize QR-based retail payment services domestically and lay the foundation for cross-border transactions. VIETQRGlobal was chosen as the official brand for international visitors to easily identify QR payment acceptance points in Vietnam, enabling quick and convenient cross-border transactions.
