From the very early hours of the morning, along the hutongs in downtown Beijing, small street vendors sell hot, steamed meat buns, spicy pancakes, bubble tea and newspapers to thousands of commuters making their way into work.
Tech savvy customers and migrant workers wave their smartphones in front of a QR code conveniently placed towards the front of each vendor’s stall. The flash of their phone marks a digital payment – a transaction is completed without the exchange of cash between vendor and customer.
“Mobile payments are ingrained in Chinese life,” explains Rui Zhong, programme assistant for the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Centre in Washington DC.
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