China Leads in Digital Payment Adoption Worldwide: Nielsen

China has the highest adoption rate in the world for technology-enabled payment systems, the media reported on Thursday.

In a survey of 13,000 respondents in 26 countries, 86 percent of Chinese respondents said they paid for online purchases during the past six months via digital payment systems compared with a global average of just 43 percent, the China Daily reported.

The survey report by the market research firm Nielsen was issued on Wednesday

About 98 percent of the respondents in China, the world’s largest e-commerce market, said they had made purchases online.

At 71 percent, food-related businesses topped the list of purchases made via smartphones while event ticket purchases stood at 51 percent.

The rising use of digital payments has attracted numerous players to the Chinese market.

Apple Inc launched its contactless payment system Apple Pay in the Chinese mainland last month. It allows users of the iPhone 6 or more advanced versions, certain iPads and Apple Watches to pay by their devices in bricks-and-mortar stores.

The new service immediately became a hit.

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to bring its own mobile payment service to China in mid-March.

China’s Internet giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd have already taken about 90 percent of the mobile payment market, but industry observers said the competition is just about to start.