China
Two Successful Factors for the Largest Cashless Society
Population
China had an estimated population of 1,439,323,776 as of the middle of 2020, according to UN data. Based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest UN data in 2021, the country had a population of 1,442,903,480, with 60.8% living in urban areas, mainly in Shanghai, Beijing and Chongqing. The median age of the population was 38.4 years.
E-commerce
The average annual revenue per paying user was $2,386 in 2020, according to the PPRO APAC Report. Most cross-border e-commerce purchases by Chinese shoppers are of products from Japan, the United States and Hong Kong.
Payment preferences
Most Chinese shoppers prefer to pay by e-wallet (56%), followed by cards, bank transfers, cash and other payment methods. For cashless payments, only local schemes are allowed under the country’s laws.
Economy
According to IMF data, China had a gross domestic product of $14.4 trillion in 2019, which declined to $14.86 trillion in 2020 due to the pandemic. As the economy continues to recover, the GDP is expected to expand to about $16.49 trillion in 2021.
Internet & mobile phone trends
According to Statista, 20.5% of people aged 30-39 had internet access in December 2020. The remaining age groups had slightly lower percentages, while only 3% of those aged 10 or below went online regularly. According to Datareportal, there were 939.8 million internet users in January 2021, with an internet penetration rate of 65.2%. Meanwhile, smartphone penetration stood at 60% by the end of 2020, according to the PPRO APAC Report.
Banking
According to data compiled by PPRO APAC, 80% of Chinese had bank accounts in 2020, with only 21% of them credit card users.