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Vietnam and China Deepen Financial Collaboration with Launch of Cross-Border Payment Network
Vietnam and China are deepening financial interconnectivity as surging trade, investment, and tourism flows between the two countries create growing demand for seamless cross-border payment and banking infrastructure.
The rollout of cross-border QR payment systems marks a significant step in this direction, reflecting broader efforts to modernize payment infrastructure and support real-time retail transactions across the two markets.
By enabling Chinese and, increasingly, regional users to transact directly via interoperable QR networks, the initiative is expected to reduce payment friction for tourists and businesses and accelerate the adoption of digital payments across Vietnam’s retail and service sectors. It also signals a broader shift toward integrated regional payment ecosystems, aligning with both countries’ ambitions to expand digital finance and facilitate cross-border economic activity.
See also: Vietnam, China Advance Cooperation Amid High-Level Engagements
Vietnam and China launch cross-border QR payment services for tourists
On April 3, 2026, Vietnam National Payment Corporation (NAPAS), Vietnam’s leading domestic payment network, along with the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) and China’s Ant International, launched a cross-border QR payment service linking Vietnam and China, allowing Chinese visitors to pay for goods and services in Vietnam by scanning VietQR Global codes (cross-border QR payment codes) with their Alipay Wallets.
A day earlier, the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) announced it had launched inbound cross-border QR payment services for Chinese and South Korean nationals, enabling them to pay for services in Vietnam by scanning the VietQR codes using a Chinese or South Korean banking app or e-wallet.
According to Vietnam’s General Statistics Office (GSO), Chinese visitors accounted for around a quarter of all foreign tourists in 2025, with a total of 5.23 million arrivals in 2025. This is an increase of 41.3 percent from 2024, with the figure reaching around 90 percent of the pre-pandemic figure.
Alipay had 967.5 million monthly active users in December 2025, according to data from the data intelligence firm QuestMobile.
Vietnam launched a pilot initiative for cross-border QR payments for Chinese tourists at the beginning of December 2025. The initiative was launched in collaboration between NAPAS, UnionPay International (UPI), the international arm of China’s state-owned payment network, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China’s largest state-owned commercial bank, and Vietcombank.
According to a NAPAS press release, in the initial phase of the pilot, Chinese tourists in Vietnam will be able to scan VietQR Global codes to make payments to participating merchants in Vietnam, including in shopping malls, tourist attractions, restaurants, and retail stores. Over 30,000 merchants were expected to participate in the pilot initiative by the end of 2025, according to reporting from Technode Global, citing the merchant acquisition plans submitted by participating institutions to NAPAS.
Following this initial phase, in early 2026, NAPAS and UPI will enable Vietnamese users to make payments at merchants participating in the UnionPay network in China by scanning QR codes using NAPAS member organization payment apps.
The launching of the cross-border payment pilot initiative was preceded by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UPI and NAPAS in October 2024, and the subsequent signing of a four-party cooperation agreement between these two entities, along with ICBC and Vietcombank, to develop cross-border retail payment capabilities between the two countries.
Vietnam-China financial sector cooperation
Vietnam and China have been deepening financial sector cooperation over the past few years, in a dual effort to facilitate cross-border capital and tourism and to further the internationalization of the RMB.
Beyond facilitating tourism and people-to-people exchanges, the deepening of bilateral financial integration is spurred by the steady increase in bilateral investment flows, expanding business opportunities, and surging Chinese exports to Vietnam. In 2024, Chinese investment flow into Vietnam reached a record US$3.92 billion, an increase of 51 percent from the previous year, according to data from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).
Meanwhile, two-way trade flows reached US$296 billion in 2025, an increase of 13.7 percent from the previous year.
As economic and trade ties between China and Vietnam continue to deepen, the demand for RMB settlement in Vietnam has been growing steadily.
Financial cooperation dates back several years. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) determined in August 2018 that, starting in October that year, RMB settlement could be used in the Vietnam-China border region, with payments for related goods or services permitted to be made in either VND or RMB in either cash or bank transfer.
This currency swap settlement scheme within Vietnam is only applicable in the seven provinces bordering China: Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Ha Giang, Lai Chau, Lao Cai, Cao Bang, and Dien Bien.
In August 2024, the Chinese and Vietnamese central banks – the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and SBV – signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims to “facilitate cooperation between China and Vietnam in such areas as local currency settlement, currency swaps and cross-border payment connectivity”, per a readout from the Chinese government.
The signing followed the convening of the sixth meeting of the Working Group on Monetary and Financial Cooperation between the two central banks, in which they agreed to “strengthen cooperation, exchange information, and share experiences in central banking operations”.
On March 17, 2026, a meeting between Vietnamese Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang and ICBC President Liu Jun centered on prospects for expanding bilateral economic cooperation, particularly in the financial and banking sectors. During the meeting, Thang noted ICBC’s contributions to Vietnam’s financial landscape, including “participation in government-guaranteed loans and the provision of payment services for infrastructure projects financed by preferential loans from China”, according to Vietnam Investment Review.
ICBC is one of five Chinese-funded banks currently operating in Vietnam, the others being the Agricultural Bank of China (ABG), the Bank of China (BOC), the China Construction Bank (CCB), and the Bank of Communications (BOCOM). ICBC and AGB both have branches in Hanoi, while the BOC, CCB, and BOCOM all have branches in Ho Chi Minh City. The BOC also has a representative office in Hanoi, and ICBC has a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City.
The advancement of cooperation in cross-border finance is further boosted by Vietnam’s ambitions for growing the digital economy, in which digital payments and finance play a crucial role. Vietnam has set a target for the digital economy to account for 20 percent and 30 percent of GDP by 2025 and 2030, respectively, which will include the development of digital payment and fintech platforms.
Opportunities for future cooperation
While China and Vietnam have made significant strides in banking and payment cooperation in recent years, there are still several areas of untapped potential.
For instance, the Chinese and Vietnamese central banks have not yet established a currency swap line, despite the PBOC having done so with a handful of other ASEAN countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. A swap line between Vietnam and China would provide considerable support for trade and investment, as well as boost RMB utilization and bolster mutual trust between the two countries.
Vietnam has also pushed for multilateral financial cooperation with China and other key trade and investment partners. At the ASEAN–GCC–China summit in May 2025, the former Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed “inter-regional financial connectivity” between ASEAN, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), and China, as a strategic step to “establish a seamless, robust inter-regional financial ecosystem and drive cooperation”, according to the state broadcaster Voice of Vietnam.
During the meeting with the ICBC delegation in March 2026, the Vietnamese Finance Minister also outlined how Vietnam’s ambitions for economic and social development presented significant opportunities for international financial institutions such as ICBC, as Vietnam seeks to encourage capital flows into Vietnam.
The Minister encouraged ICBC to participate in the construction of the International Financial Center (IFC) in Ho Chi Minh City, a planned financial hub that will include zones dedicated to banking services, securities and commodities exchange, offices, and courts for arbitration. He added that the Vietnamese government’s focus on connectivity infrastructure projects in particular has the potential to open up new financing opportunities for the bank, highlighting the potential role of Chinese financial institutions in the country’s overall development.
As Chinese investment and exports to Vietnam, as well as tourism, dwarf those moving in the opposite direction, the emphasis of the bilateral relationship for now remains on enabling Chinese capital, tourists, and exporters to operate more smoothly in Vietnam. However, as Vietnamese enterprises increasingly seek to expand into the Chinese market and Vietnamese outbound tourism recovers, demand for financial services running in the opposite direction is likely to grow, creating new opportunities for bilateral cooperation that have yet to be fully developed.
See also: China-Vietnam Trade Relationship: Key Trade Routes and Growth Drivers
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