Cambodia, China Launch Cross-Border QR Payments
Cambodia, China Launch Cross-Border QR Payments
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 18, 2026 — Cambodia and China have officially launched cross-border QR-code payments, allowing Chinese tourists and other Weixin Pay users to make payments by scanning KHQR codes at businesses across Cambodia.
The first phase of the payment connectivity was officially launched on Tuesday by National Bank of Cambodia Governor Chea Serey and Ben Yang, Weixin Pay’s managing director for Southeast Asia, North America and Latin America.
Under the new system, users of Weixin Pay, also known as WeChat Pay, can scan existing KHQR codes to pay for goods and services in Cambodia through Weixin Pay’s payment network.
The move is expected to make payments easier for Chinese tourists, who will be able to use their mobile phones to pay for food, shopping, transportation and entertainment without having to exchange currency, carry cash or use a payment card.
Chea Serey said the initiative would bring two major benefits.
For foreign visitors, particularly Chinese tourists, it provides a faster, safer and more convenient payment experience. For Cambodian businesses — ranging from large companies to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and individual merchants — it allows them to receive payments from more foreign customers using their existing KHQR codes without additional transaction fees, according to the central bank.
The launch represents a further step in strengthening payment interoperability between Cambodia and China and expanding Cambodia’s digital-payment ecosystem.
Weixin Pay’s Ben Yang described the launch as a major milestone in cross-border retail payment interoperability between the two countries, saying the use of a single KHQR code could help make payments more secure and efficient for Chinese visitors.
The initiative also forms part of broader efforts to promote digitalisation, greater use of local currencies in payments and closer alignment of payment systems between Cambodia and regional partners.
The launch was attended by representatives from the Chinese Embassy, Cambodia’s Ministry of Tourism, banking and microfinance associations, financial institutions, payment networks, hotels and restaurants, as well as other tourism and financial-sector stakeholders.
