Jakarta. Indonesians will soon be able to make digital payments in China using QRIS (Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard), as Bank Indonesia targets the full rollout of the cross-border service by the end of 2025. A pilot phase, or sandboxing, began on Aug. 17.

“QRIS with China entered its sandboxing phase on Aug. 17. Hopefully, by the end of the year, we can move to full implementation,” Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Filianingsih Hendarta said on Wednesday during the central bank’s Board of Governors meeting press briefing.

The initiative involves multiple stakeholders, including Bank Indonesia, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the Indonesian Payment System Association (ASPI), UnionPay International (UPI), and several payment service providers from both countries.

Filianingsih explained that the cross-border QRIS system will be two-way, enabling Indonesians to pay in China and Chinese tourists or businesses to use their QR-based payment systems in Indonesia. “The implementation will work both inbound and outbound, as the connection is made through switching,” she said.

The integration follows a structured roadmap: signing memorandums of understanding between central banks, forging industry agreements, developing system interlinkages, testing through sandboxing, and finally moving to full-scale operations.

“It’s not delayed. Cross-border QRIS requires MoUs, industry agreements, interlink development, sandboxing, and then implementation,” Filianingsih noted.

Currently, Indonesia has established connections through four switching operators with two of China’s dominant digital payment ecosystems, which together control about 88 percent of users and 80 percent of merchants in the country. “We are connected with four switching operators via UnionPay International and China’s two largest ecosystems,” Filianingsih said.

Indonesia has already launched similar QRIS cross-border payment links with Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan. Adding China to the network is expected to strengthen digital economic integration while making transactions more seamless for students, tourists, and businesses in both countries.

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