Hong Kong-based private equity and venture capital firm First Eastern Investment Group is betting big on China’s burgeoning financial technology sector, its chairman and chief executive told CNBC.

“I’m putting my money on Chinese fintech, particularly the payments sector going global,” Victor Chu said Friday on the sidelines of the Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou, China.

Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent’s WeChat Pay, which currently dominate the payments landscape in China, have already had some expansion outside of their domestic market. And as Chinese tourists travel abroad in greater numbers, the two payments companies are expected to “follow their customers” and sink their feet in more countries, Chu said.

First Eastern Investment Group is already helping both Alipay and WeChat to expand into Europe, Chu told CNBC.

“If they (Chinese tourists) go to London and WeChat Pay is accepted like Visa, it’s very easy, they don’t even need to exchange foreign currency,” he said, noting that the number of Chinese outbound tourists is projected to exceed 200 million in five years from the current 110 million.

“So they have to go out because they have to follow their customers, but sooner or later, WeChat Pay and Alipay, with innovation, can be very competitive,” he added.

Source: cnbc china
Investor is betting big on China's payments system going global