Wednesday, 12 Octorber 2011

Mobile payments in China is expected to see rapid growth over the next few years, boosted by the rising number of smartphone users as more capital and policies are directed toward the industry, a report by Minsheng Securities and iResearch showed.

According to the report, cited by the Xinhua news agency, China is expected to have 230 million mobile payment users by the end of this year, generating estimated transactions of 11.37 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion), 400 percent up on the previous year, the report said.

The volume is expected to rise to 35.78 billion yuan in 2012, when there will be approximately 320 million mobile subscribers who do payment by cell phones in China, it added.

Globally, purchases made via mobile devices will together generate transactions worth US$86.1 billion in 2011, iResearch Consulting Group's data showed.

A plan drafted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology expected China's electronic commerce to triple by the end of the country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), with mobile payment as a leading sector.