Singapore’s deputy prime minister Lawrence Wong visits Ant and Nio in Shanghai as part of China trip

Ant’s chairman Eric Jing Xiandong introduced the company’s history and Singapore operations to Wong, according to a report by Lianhe Zaobao, the Singaporean Chinese language newspaper. Wong was very interested in Ant’s digital payments and green development, the report said.

“Started my day at one of China’s largest fintech services companies, Ant Group. Happy to learn more about Ant’s latest R&D and innovation capabilities, especially in the sustainability and financial sectors,” Wong wrote in a post on Facebook.

Wong also said in another post late on Monday that he “rounded off” his Shanghai trip by visiting Nio and “learnt more about its journey to becoming one of China’s leading electric vehicle companies”.

Alipay, Ant’s payments app, also reposted Wong’s post, saying that the company is “very honoured”. Alibaba also owns the South China Morning Post.

Wong was invited to visit China between May 13 and May 17. He is also expected to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang in Beijing, according to Lianhe Zaobao’s report. It is Wong’s first visit to China as Singapore’s deputy Prime Minister.

Singapore is an important overseas market for Ant. In April, Alipay+, Ant’s cross-border electronic payments solution, partnered with Singapore’s leading payment services group, Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS), to integrate with SGQR, the world’s first unified payment QR code.