A file photo shows the logo of Alipay. [Photo: sxdaily.com.cn]

Chinese tourists in Europe will soon be able to use the Alipay payment app to make purchases.

The Paypal-style system is being made available to Chinese travelers thanks to a deal signed between Alipay and the French-based global leader in seamless payments, Ingenico Group.

The agreement allows Alipay to deepen its mobile-payment push into Europe.

Ingenico says the new partnership would allow Alipay to be embedded into Ingenico's in-store payment gateway.

A QR code can be shown on the user's device which the merchant can scan. [File Photo: mydigit.cn]

The Alipay system will recognize where its Chinese users are in Europe and send notifications about where they can spend their money. QR codes or barcodes will be shown on the users' devices which the merchant can scan, just as in China.

As one of China's biggest payment services, Alipay is massively popular among Chinese consumers. It is used to pay for items in-store and for goods and services online, such taxis, food delivery, and also in restaurants.

Currently, Alipay has over 450 million active users. Its parent company Alibaba is hoping that they will continue to use the app abroad allowing it to tap into the spending power of an increasing number of Chinese tourists traveling overseas.

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