A resident (R) consults a staff member during a seminar on payment options for expats in China held in Shekou on Saturday. Courtesy of Shekou MSCE
A SEMINAR on various payment options for expats in China was held in Shekou over the weekend, attracting approximately 30 international volunteers and foreign residents.
The event — the first installment of the new “Hot Topic in Shekou” service series — was launched by the Shekou Foreign Legal Assistance Center. The series aims to provide expats with professional, authoritative information on pressing foreign-related issues.
Representatives from the Shenzhen branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), as well as mobile payment service providers Alipay and WeChat Pay, conducted on-site training on convenient payment options for participating Shekou international volunteers. They also provided information on cross-border payments for foreign residents during the second part of the seminar.
The event organizers included a section specifically tailored to international volunteers from diverse backgrounds, hoping to leverage their language skills to offer assistance to expats who face payment difficulties in their daily lives. The move also helped enhance the service level of the Shekou international volunteer team, according to a staff member with the legal assistance center who preferred to remain anonymous.
At the seminar, an ICBC staffer discussed several topics such as currency exchange for expats in Shenzhen, ATM cash withdrawals, and POS bank card payments. Employees with Alipay and WeChat Pay provided briefings on the usage scenarios of their respective mobile payment apps, including details about types of merchants that accept them and updates on exchange rates.
Doris Vogel, from the U.K., expressed gratitude for the event, saying the seminar had resolved several issues that had been bothering her. “The information shared in the training today is very useful, and I can’t wait to share it with my colleagues,” said Jacob, an international volunteer who works at an international school. (Shenzhen Daily)
