IKEA Global Travel Leader: 'Cash is still widely accepted in China'

IKEA global travel leader Victor Lim, speaking at the CTC Singapore Corporate Travel Summit, stated (27-Jun-2023) he advises corporate travel managers sending employees on international business trips to China to have those employees "just use cash" during their trip, noting "cash is still widely accepted in China". Mr Lim acknowledged "China is so driven by mobile payments today", which is convenient and efficient for Chinese nationals, but urged corporate travel stakeholders to remember that using these services can be fraught for foreign nationals, especially non Chinese speakers, and inaccessible for employees unfamiliar with using QR codes and Chinese mobile applications. He commented: "Even if you manage to somehow secure a way to put money in an Alipay or WeChat Pay account, accessing those services might not be so easy" upon arrival in China for a foreign national corporate traveller, concluding: "I think the simplest answer is to just use cash, because cash is still accepted everywhere".