China-Laos payment link lets Chinese tourists pay in Laos with digital yuan

Chinese visitors to Laos can now pay at participating Lao merchants by scanning QR codes with digital yuan apps, under a cross-border payment link launched on 18 September 2026. The People's Bank of China and the Bank of the Lao PDR introduced the China–Lao PDR Cross-Border Digital Payment Connect in Nanning, with every payment settled in Lao kip rather than in the Chinese currency.

Key facts

• Launched: 18 September 2026 in Nanning, by the People's Bank of China and the Bank of the Lao PDR
• Who can use it: Chinese visitors paying with digital yuan (e-CNY) apps at participating Lao merchants
• Settlement currency: Lao kip, via Lao-regulated financial institutions
• Coverage: QR codes from 17 members of LAPNet, Laos' national payment network — 15 banks and two e-money providers
• Background: builds on a memorandum of understanding signed by the two central banks in March 2024 and expanded in June 2026

How does the payment link work?

Chinese visitors scan a participating Lao merchant's QR code using an e-CNY application, check the exchange rate and fees shown, and confirm the payment. The merchant receives the money in Lao kip through domestic payment channels.

Transactions are routed through LAPNet and settled in kip by Lao-regulated financial institutions, with regulated intermediaries handling foreign exchange conversion and cross-border processing. China's Digital Currency Institute and LAPNet agreed to support the technical connectivity.

What makes the arrangement different?

The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) noted in a commentary that most ASEAN+3 QR payment links connect commercial bank accounts and e-money providers. This one instead connects a retail central bank digital currency to a domestic payment network while keeping settlement in local currency — a model AMRO said could give Lao merchants an alternative to cash and international card payments.

Why link China and Laos?

China is Laos' largest foreign investor, with cumulative investment exceeding $18 billion, and more than 1.16 million Chinese visitors travelled to Laos in 2025. AMRO said the Lao-China Railway has further strengthened connectivity and tourism flows.

What needs to happen for wider use?

AMRO said wider adoption will require more than technical connectivity, pointing to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing safeguards, cybersecurity, operational resilience, transparent foreign exchange conversion and sound data governance. It recommended monitoring active users, participating institutions, payment success rates, processing times, refund and fraud rates, transaction fees and exchange-rate spreads.

AMRO set out four priorities: widening access to more banks, e-wallets and merchants, including small businesses outside major tourism centres; ensuring reliable services and effective dispute-resolution mechanisms; extending functionality beyond Chinese consumer-to-Lao merchant payments to remittances and business transactions; and expanding gradually.

Selected enterprises are already piloting cross-border business and investment transfers through the Cross Border e-CNY Transfer System, and AMRO said broader expansion should follow sandbox testing and regulatory assessment. As volumes grow beyond tourism, authorities will also need to watch for currency substitution, compliance with capital-flow management measures and money-laundering risks.

What this means for travellers

Chinese travellers carrying e-CNY can pay participating Lao merchants directly from their digital yuan app, with exchange rates and fees displayed before the payment is confirmed. Merchants are paid in kip. Coverage currently extends to QR codes from 17 LAPNet members, so travellers should check whether a merchant accepts the network before relying on it.

AMRO cited Hong Kong's experience as a lesson for adoption: e-CNY wallets there are connected to the Faster Payment System, letting residents open wallets without a Mainland bank account, and about 80,000 wallets registered with Hong Kong mobile numbers had been opened by the end of January 2026.

AMRO said the initiative adds a retail central bank digital currency-to-domestic-payment-network model to the region's existing QR payment, fast-payment and wholesale digital currency schemes, and that its longer-term success will depend on adoption, governance and data transparency.