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PayPal meets with PBOC to discuss China expansion plans
The American payments giant is deepening its presence in China's cross-border commerce market, though full domestic approval remains elusive.
PayPal is engaging directly with the People’s Bank of China as it seeks to expand services in a country where Alipay and WeChat Pay command near-total dominance.
The meeting signals PayPal’s intent to move beyond its current niche of facilitating cross-border transactions for Chinese merchants selling overseas.
PayPal’s China playbook so far
PayPal first cracked the door open in 2019 by acquiring a majority stake in GoPay, a small Chinese payments firm. That deal made PayPal the first foreign company to obtain an online payment license in the country.
The licensed entity, now called Beibao Payment, serves as PayPal’s operational foothold. Through it, PayPal provides cross-border payment services for Chinese merchants looking to sell to international customers, supporting over 100 currencies across roughly 200 countries and regions.
In June 2026, the PBOC formally approved Zhang Hong as the new CEO of PayPal’s Chinese subsidiary.
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In May 2026, PayPal struck a deal allowing US PayPal users to make payments at millions of Chinese merchants through WeChat Pay QR codes. The integration was positioned to coincide with the upcoming APEC 2026 event, when an influx of international visitors to China would need a frictionless way to pay.
The domestic wall
PayPal has carved out a lane in cross-border e-commerce, helping Chinese sellers on platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Shopify collect payments from foreign buyers. It has also added features like multi-currency support and RMB withdrawals for merchants.
The September 2026 Greater China Cross-Border E-Commerce Conference, held in Shenzhen with around 600 attendees, showcased this approach. PayPal used the event to highlight its role as a bridge between Chinese sellers and global consumers.
What this means for the payments landscape
The WeChat Pay partnership is particularly telling. Rather than trying to replace Chinese payment rails, PayPal is plugging into them. If that model works, it could become the template for other foreign fintech firms looking to access Chinese consumers and merchants without the regulatory headaches of a full domestic license.
The research notes there have been no recent public confirmations regarding specific PBOC meetings in September 2026 that would impact PayPal’s service expansion.