China city to expand e-payment to all buses

HANGZHOU -- China's eastern city of Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province and location of the 2016 G20 summit, will expand e-payment service to the city's nearly 5,000 buses by the end of June.

Passengers, both local and non-local, will be able to pay via Alipay, the payment system of China's e-commerce powerhouse Alibaba.

Alipay has reached a cooperation agreement with Hangzhou Public Transport Group Co Ltd and Hangzhou Citizen Card Co Ltd, according to Alibaba's financial affiliate Ant Financial.

Hangzhou started piloting the mobile payment service on 20 buses in August 2016 before the G20 summit.