With the rapid development of third-party mobile payment tools,     1     increasing number of consumers across China are using cashless payment methods.

Transactions (交易)     2     (involve) third-party mobile payments rose by 39.1 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared with the previous quarter to 74 trillion yuan. Although China has the most third-party payment accounts in the world, it is not the     3     (one) country to seek a cashless society. Developed states like Sweden, Denmark and Singapore are also witnessing that increase.

    4    , the rapid development of cashless payments does not mean there are no challenges and criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema Fresh Store,     5     people can shop, dine and order goods for delivery from their mobile phones via Alipay,     6     (come) into the spotlight recently. Media reports say that consumers can’t purchase goods with cash there, which would be considered     7     (legal).

Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third-party mobile payment tools, have also launched campaigns to encourage more merchants and customers     8     (use) cashless payment methods, which has caused concerns over whether cash will soon disappear.

However, experts believe that a cashless society does not mean that cash will     9     (complete) disappear. As the economy grows, the circulation of cash is still very huge. In the long term, various payment     10     (method) will be used by consumers, and merchants should respect consumers’ payment habits.

With the rapid development of third-party mobile payment tools,     1    increasing number of consumers across China are using cashless payment methods.

Transactions(交易)    2    (involve) third-party mobile payments rose by 39. 1 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared     3     the previous quarter to 74 trillion yuan. Although China has the most third-party payment accounts in the world, it is not the first country     4    (seek) a cashless society. Developed states like Sweden, Denmark and Singapore are also witnessing that increase.

However, the rapid development of cashless payments does not mean there are no challenges and criticisms. Alibaba’s Hema Fresh Store,     5     customers can shop, dine and order goods for delivery from their mobile phones via Alipay,     6    (come) into the spotlight recently. Media reports say that consumers can’t purchase goods with cash there, which would be considered     7    (legal).

Alipay and WeChat Pay, the nation’s two major third-party mobile payment tools, have also launched     8    (campaign) to encourage more merchants and customers to use cashless payment methods, which has caused concerns over     9     cash will soon disappear.

However, experts believe that a cashless society does not mean that cash will     10    (complete) disappear. As the economy grows, the circulation of cash is still very huge. In the long term, various payment methods will be used by consumers, and merchants should respect consumers’ payment habits.

The Chinese Consulate General (中国领事馆) in New York introduced mobile payments for     1    (it) service charges on Wednesday,    2    (become) the first Chinese delegation in the United States to adopt this form of payment.

Besides traditional cash and credit card payments, WeChat pay and Alipay are now available for customers, which is expected to greatly    3    (short) the payment time. The payments can be made in Chinese Yuan only and there will be no other additional charges.

According to Huang Ping, the Chinese consul-general in New York, there are over 1.2 million overseas Chinese in the 10 states on the U.S. East Coast    4    belong to his consular (领事的) district, and most of their mobile phones are equipped    5     WeChat pay or Alipay thanks to the rapid growth and ever-increasing    6    (popular) of mobile payments back in China over the recent years.

“We should keep pace with the times, provide more convenience for these potential customers, and make our services    7    (efficient),” said Huang. In the past years,    8     series of measures     9    (launch) by the Chinese Consulate General in New York to its services, including reduced processing time, lowered charges, and    10     (simplify) application requirements, according to Consul-general Huang.

Felicity Miller, a 32-year-old British woman,     1     has a Chinese husband, still remembers the     2     (excite) when she first learned to use the “red packet” function on WeChat in 2015. She sent and grabbed some red packets in her Chinese family’s group. The rule in her family was that the person who grabbed the     3     (high) amount sent the next.

Attracted by the unique way of communicating, many foreigners     4     (join) in sending and grabbing red packets so far. Usually, the money in each packet is random. Thus the amount of money one can grab     5     (large) depends on his or her luck, from 0.01 yuan to less than 200 yuan. Many foreigners get more familiar     6     Chinese culture through “red packets”. Two years ago, when Felicity Miller was sent 5.20 or 8.88 yuan red packets, she had no clue about the     7     (hide) meanings. Now, she has not only known about     8    , but also has sent a few.

However, the popularity of virtual red packets doesn’t stop people sending paper red packets     9     (contain) real cash during the Spring Festival. It is called lucky money. In Chinese tradition, people take giving children lucky money as     10     blessing.

China, once famous for four inventions in ancient times, has once again showed its ability     1     (change) the world with its “new four great inventions”: electronic payments, shared bicycles, high-speed railways and online shopping.

With electronic payments, people can buy and eat     2     they want simply with a tap of their phones. Electronic payments are so convenient that they are really popular with folks. Even pancake sellers are found     3    (use) Alipay. The bikes themselves are not new,     4    the operating model of bike-sharing is innovative. Chinese companies have surprised the world with the business model of bike-sharing which     5     (include) high technologies, and are entering overseas markets such as Singapore and Britain. The launch of high-speed trains has a       6    (big) influence on people’s choice of traveling than expected. The newly launched Fuxing Hao can travel at an    7     (amaze) speed of 300 km/h, making the 1,318km joumey in five and three-quarter hours. China also takes the lead in online shopping with various e-commerce platforms.     8     the 11.11 shopping day in 2018, sales hit 10 billion yuan in the first 2 minutes after midnight and     9    (reach) 213. 5 billion by the end of the day.

Thanks to the large amounts of capital (资金) China has invested in encouraging inmovation (创新), China has entered     10     new innovative time.