Alipay, an Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s affiliate, is extending its payment platform arm to Europe, signing deals with various retailers to allow Chinese tourists to use its service abroad.

The third-party payment service started expanding to Europe early this year and has teamed up with processors such as Concardis, Wirecard, and Worldpay. Alipay has also held meetings with retailers such as Printemps, the largest department stores in the French capital; Axa SA for travel insurance sale to Alipay's 450 million active users; and Germany's Wirecard for mobile wallet service support to as many as 69 outlets at Munich Airport, according to Bloomberg.

Like Us on Facebook

Alipay continues to establish its presence across the continent and is allegedly in negotiations with other potential processing partners in France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom. However, the company has made clear that it is targeting Chinese tourists and expats traveling abroad and not European consumers, Rita Liu, head of Alipay Europe, Middle East, and Africa said.

"Europe is a popular destination for our Chinese customers, so it's an important market for us," Liu said. "We're actively looking for partners across Europe - merchants who want to cater to Chinese tourists or technical providers on the payments side. But we have no plans to target European customers."

According to the China Tourism Research Institute, an estimated 120 million tourists from China traveled abroad in 2015, spending $875 each on average. The top for destinations for Chinese tourists outside Asia include France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.

Based on this year's first quarter report, Alipay is leading the mobile payment market in China, accounting for 63.41 percent of the market share, Chinese research firm Analysys reported.

TagsAlipay, third party payment, payment platform, Europe, payment service