SHENZHEN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- China's tech giant Tencent on Thursday launched TenPayGo, a payment app for overseas users traveling to China. This new platform is designed to make payments more convenient for inbound visitors as the country sees a growing number of international travelers.

The app supports bank cards issued overseas by seven major international card organizations including Visa and Mastercard, as well as Apple Pay and overseas e-wallets such as Starryblu, Tencent said.

After linking a payment method, users can scan and pay directly through TenPayGo, according to Tencent. The company unveiled the app at an international payment services launch event in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province.

TenPayGo will also enable overseas visitors to activate a ride code for Shenzhen's buses and metro, with no phone number or transit card required.

In addition, TenPayGo will further expand its in-app services, pledging to connect payment with consumption scenarios, such as departure tax refunds and AI-powered translation of menus, the Shenzhen-based company added.

Dong Ximiao, chief economist at Merchants Union Consumer Finance Company Limited, noted that TenPayGo allows inbound visitors to travel across China with a single smartphone, which is set to further improve their travel experience.

The launch of TenPayGo came after Tencent announced in May a landmark integration of its extensive payment network with PayPal, enabling U.S. visitors to pay like locals in China via QR codes. The partnership connects Tencent's cross-border payments platform TenPay Global with PayPal World, a global platform connecting the world's largest payment systems and digital wallets.

Tencent's WeChat, which serves as a multifunctional app beyond social media and messaging, offers digital payment services known as Weixin Pay in the Chinese mainland.

The launch of TenPayGo by Weixin Pay comes amid a surge in foreign visitor spending. Data from Weixin Pay showed that in the first eight months of this year, the value and number of overseas e-wallet transactions in China increased by 80.6 percent and 81.8 percent year on year, respectively.

The payment growth came as "China Travel" surged, driven by the country's measures to facilitate inbound tourism, including the expansion of visa-free policies and improved departure tax refunds.

Official data showed that foreign nationals made nearly 61.29 million border crossings in the January-August period, up 19.5 percent from a year earlier. Visa-free entries accounted for 23.72 million of the total, up 26.8 percent from a year earlier.

To better cater to the increasing payment demand, Tencent said it will carry out cooperation with domestic online payment-clearing house NetsUnion and work to connect more overseas e-wallets with its payment network, in a bid to enable more overseas users to scan to pay when traveling in China.