According to reports from Knowledge Planet members, if you log in to PayPal using a China IP address, you can now see ads for QR-code scanning + paying with your PayPal balance. This payment method will likely launch soon.
On July 23, 2025, in San Jose, California, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) officially launched a series of global partnership initiatives that bring several of the world’s largest payment systems and digital wallets onto one platform, with initial interoperability with PayPal and Venmo. These launch partners reach nearly 2 billion users worldwide, and the vision for PayPal World is to transform the consumer experience across shopping, money transfers, and various interactions with AI assistants.
The two points below are probably the most useful for Chinese users. The implication is that PayPal will later support directly scanning WeChat QR codes for payment in China. Presumably, you may be able to pay using a U.S. or other foreign credit card linked to PayPal. That would make paying while visiting China much more convenient, without needing to exchange money in advance or open a domestic Chinese bank account. That said, I would guess this kind of wrapper payment method will probably come with some fees.
- We are glad that Tenpay Global, Tencent’s cross-border payment platform, will support users of PayPal and Venmo in making payments by scanning Weixin Pay1
- For example, a PayPal user goes on holiday in China. They want to grab some coffee in a cafe that accepts Weixin Pay. All they’ll need to do is open their PayPal app and scan to pay.
Technically, this should not be difficult. PayPal has already been promoting in-store scan-to-pay in the U.S. for a long time. The key question is probably what fee arrangement it can negotiate with WeChat.
