AI-Driven Cross-Border Consumption Booms, Drawing Attention at Two Sessions

A set of cross-border consumption data during this year’s Spring Festival has clearly reflected the global trend of “AI + consumption”. Data on payments during the festival released by relevant enterprises show that the number of users of Alipay’s “AI Payment” has exceeded 100 million; offline consumption in Malaysia and the Maldives surged by 131% and 186% year-on-year respectively; and consumption by inbound tourists via Alipay rose by more than 80% year-on-year.

Additionally, driven by the Milan Winter Olympics, the transaction volume of WeChat Mini Programs in Italy soared by over 190% year-on-year during the Spring Festival, emerging as the “fastest dark horse” in terms of year-on-year growth in global transaction volume. Behind these figures is an AI-driven cross-border consumption boom, which has also attracted the attention of deputies and members at the national Two Sessions.

“AI has transformed consumption from ‘people seeking services’ to ‘services finding people’,” a CPPCC member said. Through precise matching and real-time fulfillment, consumers can more conveniently obtain personalized services, thereby activating long-suppressed potential demand.

He further analyzed that AI has promoted the digital and intelligent transformation of the service industry, expanded the coverage and density of high-quality service supply, made up for service shortcomings in underdeveloped markets and low-density areas, further strengthened the domestic market, and provided strong impetus for expanding domestic demand, stabilizing employment and ensuring people’s livelihoods.

At the international level, the digitally upgraded service models and consumption ecology have also significantly enhanced the international competitiveness of China’s service industry, injecting new vitality into promoting the domestic and international dual circulation and expanding the space for external demand.

A CPPCC standing committee member also believed that activating and matching people’s needs is the key to releasing consumption potential.

To ensure the smooth flow of consumption, the core lies in enabling people to be willing to consume, dare to consume and enjoy consumption. In cross-border consumption scenarios, AI changes consumers’ actual experience by “removing barriers” and “building bridges”.

For consumers, the most intuitive impact of AI on consumption experience is that cross-border consumption has become less cumbersome and more reassuring. In the past, language barriers were the first obstacle to overseas shopping; now, AI is breaking down this wall.

The CPPCC member noted that with the help of AI technology, platforms can achieve real-time multilingual translation and cross-cultural semantic understanding, helping consumers better understand overseas product details, service standards and after-sales guarantees, and lowering the information threshold for cross-border consumption.

With AI support, solutions have been found to problems that consumers often worry about in cross-border shopping, such as opaque product information and unclear after-sales guarantees. Enterprises can rely on AI technology to build high-credit international cross-border service and trading platforms, integrate global supply chain, logistics, payment, after-sales and other whole-chain resources, and build a transparent and credible cross-border credit system based on objective data such as real transactions, fulfillment records and user behaviors.

“This can effectively reduce information asymmetry and transaction risks. When information flows smoothly and trust is established, consumption will naturally become smooth,” he said.

Currently, when users make payments at overseas merchants, the underlying AI system not only completes payment instructions, but also integrates merchant fulfillment records and global consumer reviews to dynamically evaluate service quality, generate an intangible “trust index” and match corresponding after-sales guarantees, fostering a safe, stable and mutually trusting cross-border consumption relationship.

“As AI and digital platforms are increasingly integrated into consumption scenarios, China’s huge service consumption market is becoming an important ‘test ground’ for new technology applications. The integration of digital payment, intelligent translation, credit evaluation and other technologies is promoting the continuous improvement of cross-border consumption infrastructure,” the CPPCC standing committee member said.

Data show that throughout 2025, more than 10 million inbound tourists consumed directly in China through “foreign card binding” or overseas e-wallets, driving the inbound consumption scale to increase by more than 100% year-on-year. Currently, Alipay+ has connected more than 40 e-wallets and 10 national two-dimensional code networks worldwide, covering about 1.8 billion consumers.

He suggested that more top-level design is needed in the future to promote the construction of infrastructure such as digital payment networks and cross-border credit systems, providing a safer and more convenient consumption environment for global consumers.

The other CPPCC member also proposed further increasing the application of AI technology in cross-border service platforms, accurately identifying consumer needs, optimizing fulfillment and service experiences, so that more high-quality goods and services can cross geographical boundaries to reach consumers and further release global consumption potential.