PayPal has formed a partnership with Chinese tech giant Baidu in a drive to compete in the world’s biggest mobile payments market, which is dominated by domestic titans Ant Financial and Tencent.
The partnership, announced on Thursday morning, allows Baidu Wallet users to make online purchases outside China by linking their Baidu Wallets to PayPal. Foreign merchants that accept PayPal will automatically accept Baidu Wallet as a result.
“With Baidu, PayPal will be able to offer millions of international merchants increased access to millions of consumers in China who can search, shop and discover the world through Baidu and Baidu Wallet,” said Dan Schulman, president and chief executive of PayPal.