(ECNS) -- China’s UnionPay International and Brazilian partners launched a cross-border QR payment trial Thursday, allowing users of the UnionPay app and participating Chinese bank apps to scan and pay at merchants connected to Brazil’s Pix instant payment network.
Launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in 2020, Pix now covers about 15 million merchants. UnionPay said the service will later expand to more wallets connected to its global QR payment network.
The cross-border QR code interconnection project represents a tangible outcome of the complementary strengths and efficient coordination between the financial payment industries of the two countries, industry insiders said.
China's outbound travel demand to Latin America has been on a steady rise in recent years, and Brazil's visa-free policy for Chinese citizens, which took effect in May 2026, has further accelerated this trend.
Having operated in the Brazil for over two decades, UnionPay has achieved wide acceptance among major merchants in key tourist destinations, as well as essentially full coverage of interbank ATM withdrawal services across the region.
Point-of-sale transactions in Brazil using UnionPay cards issued on the Chinese mainland rose more than 30% year on year in the first half of 2026.
(By Intern Yang Hongran, Zhang Dongfang)
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