Lianlian DigiTech Opens DIFC Office to Expand Cross-Border Payments and Treasury Services

The office follows the company's earlier award of a Category 3D Payment Service Provider licence from the Dubai Financial Services Authority, the DIFC's regulator. Lianlian described the opening as the next phase of its Middle East strategy, aimed at companies that need local collection of funds, multi-currency cash management and payouts to suppliers in several countries.

The move puts another Chinese payments provider in Dubai's financial free zone as trade along the China-UAE corridor grows. For exporters and online sellers moving money between the two regions, slow settlement cycles, foreign exchange costs and compliance across several jurisdictions remain practical obstacles, and those are the problems the company says its services address.

From DIFC, Lianlian said it will offer cross-border collections, foreign exchange hedging and conversion, and global vendor disbursements, delivered within the limits of its regulatory authorisations. It plans to work with regional banks, large financial institutions and commercial partners.

The company already has a commercial footprint in the region. It cited an existing partnership with e-commerce platform Noon and said it supports merchant settlements on Amazon UAE and Amazon Saudi Arabia, helping cross-border sellers bring revenue home and manage funds in several currencies.

Arif Amiri, chief executive of the DIFC Authority, said the expansion would "contribute to the financial infrastructure supporting businesses between China and the region". Tim Shen, Lianlian DigiTech's co-president, called Dubai "a natural bridge connecting East-West trade and finance" and said the company treats "technological compliance" and "customer trust" as the basis of its international business.

The company linked the expansion to the Dubai Economic Agenda, D33, which aims to double the emirate's economy and lift foreign trade to AED 25.6 trillion over the next decade. Lianlian did not disclose staffing numbers for the Dubai office, investment figures or transaction volumes for its Middle East business.