Alibaba, Yelp in tie-up for Chinese tourists

Alipay, China’s biggest digital payments platform, has joined forces with San Francisco-based online review provider Yelp to bring its local content to millions of Chinese travelers through the mainland company’s mobile lifestyle app. Their alliance follows recent efforts by Alipay to kick into high gear its international expansion when it extended a partnership with US payment processing specialist First Data Corp to cover a network of more than six million retailers and 4,000 financial institutions around the world, the South China Morning Post reports. The beta launch of Yelp content on Alipay’s app this week will enable mainland Chinese visitors in New York City, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and San Francisco to easily find local restaurants, bars and shops, as well as get directions, read review snippets in English, make reservations and pay in Chinese yuan at retailers that accept Alipay. Additional cities and countries will be added in the Alipay-Yelp coverage within this year, the two companies said.