AKP Phnom Penh, August 18, 2026 -- The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) and China’s Weixin Pay have launched the Cross-Border QR Code Payment Initiative Phase 1, enabling Weixin Pay (commonly known as WeChat Pay) users to scan KHQR codes in Cambodia.

The official launching ceremony was held here on Aug. 18 under the presidency of H.E. Dr. Chea Serey, NBC Governor, and Mr. Ben Yang, Managing Director of Weixin Pay for Southeast Asia, North America and LATAM Region.

The event was attended by approximately 185 distinguished representatives from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Cambodia, the Ministry of Tourism, the Association of Banks in Cambodia, the Cambodia Microfinance Association, International Card Payment Network Operators, Banking and Financial Institutions, the Cambodia Hotel Association, the Cambodia Restaurant Association, and the Cambodia Tourism Marketing and Promotion Board.

This milestone enables Weixin Pay users to scan KHQR codes in Cambodia, facilitating seamless transactions between the Kingdom of Cambodia and the People’s Republic of China via Weixin Pay’s payment network.

The development of this cross-border QR code payment initiative marks a significant step forward in enhancing existing payment cooperation between Cambodia and China.

Chinese visitors can now use Weixin Pay to scan KHQR code throughout Cambodia, enjoying seamless payments for everyday travel experiences, including dining, shopping, transport, tourist attractions and more.

Speaking at the ceremony H.E. Dr. Chea Serey stated that the strategic benefits are twofold. “First, for our international visitors using Weixin Pay, in particular from China: it offers a familiar, secure, and instant payment experience, eliminating currency exchange friction and reliance on physical cash or traditional cards,” the NBC Governor explained.

“And second, for our domestic enterprises: from major hospitality operators to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), merchants can now access a broader international customer base using their existing KHQR deployment without incurring prohibitive operational costs,” she added.

For his part, Mr. Ben Yang said that the official integration of Weixin Pay with Cambodia’s KHQR standard represents a landmark achievement in cross-border retail payment interoperability.

“By leveraging KHQR’s unified acceptance network, we are extending a secure, efficient, and fully compliant payment corridor that allows Chinese visitors to transact seamlessly within Cambodia’s digital economy,” he said.

This is not merely a tourist-convenience feature; it is an exercise in cross-border payment interoperability that puts local-currency settlement, regulatory clarity and merchant digitisation at the centre, underlined the Managing Director of Weixin Pay.

By Chea Vannak