China overtook the U.S. to become the world's largest spender on business travel in 2016, and growth momentum is likely to continue in 2017, said a report released by Germany-based travel payment company AirPlus International on Tuesday.
Chinese companies' business travel spending stood at about $310 billion last year and the amount is expected to reach $344 billion in 2017, Wang Lu, managing director of AirPlus International China, told a meeting held in Beijing on Tuesday.
China's business travel market will grow 8.4 percent year-on-year in 2017, the report forecast, noting that the sound prospects of the domestic business travel market are being driven by China's stable economic development.
Wang said that Chinese travel managers are optimistic about the business travel segment, and a variety of payment methods will support the sector.
"Given the fast growth of the mobile payment sector in recent years, AirPlus is beefing up efforts to help Chinese firms manage business travel spending through exploring tailored mobile payment plans," Wang said.
"Payment safety and data safety are the top two factors that Chinese companies may consider when they choose a new payment tool," she said.
