Luxembourg Minister of Finance Pierre Gramegna (second from right) issues the payment license to Ping Pong on Sept 1 in Luxembourg, Europe. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

Ping Pong, a financial technology company located in Binjiang district of Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, obtained licenses for the first cross-border payment in Europe from the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance on Sept 1.

Under the Belt and Road initiative, an increasing number of Chinese companies, particularly e-commerce companies, have started businesses overseas.

As a third-party payment company, Ping Pong aims to provide more efficient and low-cost cross-border payment methods for domestic enterprises.

"Usually, a foreign trade company is required to wait 2-4 weeks and pay 3-6 percent commission to collect funds via foreign financial institutes," said Lu Shuai, CMO of Ping Pong, adding "However, our company only needs 24 hours and charges 1 percent service fees for the entire process."

It is estimated that so far, Ping Pong has saved almost 300 million yuan ($46 million) for Chinese companies. Companies that choose Ping Pong as an agent to help handle cross-border financial settlements are able to increase the turnover rate of capital by 20-30 percent.

It is not easy for Ping Pong to get payment licenses abroad. In particular, the European Union's payment license has always been noted for having strict application requirements. The requirements for private enterprises are at the same level as for banks.

According to EU's passporting rights, Ping Pong has the right to set up branch offices and provide financial services for other EU member countries of without any further authorization.

"We will make full use of Luxemburg's international advantages in the financial industry, information security and logistics to open up the European market," said Chen Yu, CEO of Ping Pong.

"Our financial products and services will soon be available for the entire European continent and a multitude of cross-border e-commerce operators can use them to conduct smooth trades," Chen added.