China's $25tn in mobile payments transform nation's services

Alibaba and Tencent reshape how people access health care, lending and more

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Alibaba Group Holding and rival Tencent Holdings have spurred a shift away from cash in China by combining insurance cards, smartphone payments and facial authentication. (Photo by Kosaku Mimura)

YUSHO CHO, Nikkei staff writer

SHANGHAI -- In Hangzhou, home to Chinese e-commerce leader Alibaba Group Holding, something has happened at the First People's Hospital of Yuhang.

Gone are the long lines of waiting patients that have been a symbol of public health care in Chinese cities. Even the payment counter has only a few people awaiting their turn.

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