LianLian Global and Latin American payments platform Cobre have agreed to link their payment networks, creating a route intended to make business payments between China and Latin America faster, cheaper, and easier to track.
Under the arrangement, LianLian Global's clients will gain access to Cobre's local payment rails in Latin America, while Cobre's enterprise customers will be able to make payouts into China through LianLian Global's licensed network. The companies are targeting a trade corridor where goods flows have expanded rapidly but settlement often still depends on several correspondent banks and separate local payment providers.
The partnership puts the operational focus on the difficult final stages of a cross-border payment: collecting funds locally, converting currency, clearing compliance checks, and delivering money into a recipient's domestic account. By connecting their networks directly, LianLian Global and Cobre aim to reduce the number of intermediaries involved in those steps.
China's General Administration of Customs said trade between China and Latin America reached about $565 billion in 2025, a 6.5% increase from the previous year. Qiu, a representative of LianLian Global, said trade on the China-Latin America route reached $422 billion during the first eight months of 2026.
Those figures point to a large and growing market for payment providers, particularly among importers, exporters, marketplaces, logistics companies, and businesses paying suppliers across borders. Trade volumes do not automatically translate into payment volume handled by any one provider, but they create pressure for payment systems that can settle transactions without the delays associated with traditional banking chains.
A direct link between local payment systems
Cobre operates payment infrastructure in Colombia and Mexico, offering local and cross-border payments as well as stablecoin payment services. LianLian Global, the cross-border payments brand of Hong Kong-listed Lianlian DigiTech, brings access to a network built around China payouts and international collections.
The companies said the integration would support transparent foreign-exchange pricing and end-to-end tracking across both collection and payout processes. Such visibility can be particularly useful for businesses managing supplier payments, where the sender may otherwise have limited information about whether a transfer is awaiting a bank check, currency conversion, local clearing, or final delivery.
Mexico and Colombia offer two different examples of why local connectivity matters. Mexico's SPEI system enables real-time domestic transfers, while Colombia's Bre-B is being developed as an instant-payment ecosystem. A cross-border provider that can connect international payment instructions to domestic rails could shorten the period between a company sending funds and its supplier receiving usable local currency.
The companies did not publish pricing, settlement-time targets, or the specific currencies available under the new arrangement. The stated goal is to cut costs and settlement times by reducing the reliance on multiple correspondent banking relationships, which remain common in cross-border commercial payments.
Trade growth is testing older payment routes
Correspondent banking allows financial institutions in different jurisdictions to settle transactions through accounts held with one another or through intermediary banks. The model remains central to global finance, but a payment moving between China and Latin America can pass through several institutions before reaching its destination.
Every additional intermediary can introduce fees, foreign-exchange spreads, cut-off times, and compliance reviews. For companies working with narrow margins or frequent shipments, delayed settlement can complicate inventory purchases and cash-flow planning.
LianLian Global and Cobre are pitching their link as infrastructure for those commercial payment needs rather than as a consumer remittance product. Cobre Chief Executive Officer and cofounder Gedeon said Latin American enterprises were seeking greater speed and predictability in transaction flows.
The collaboration was announced alongside Hong Kong FinTech Week. Wong, senior vice president for financial services and fintech at InvestHK, said the initiative was intended to make business payments between the two regions faster and simpler.
Hong Kong's role gives the arrangement a useful geographic and regulatory base. The city has long served as a financial conduit between mainland China and international markets, while its payments and digital-asset rules have drawn financial technology firms seeking a regulated regional hub.
LianLian brings scale in China and global collections
Lianlian DigiTech said it was founded in 2009 and listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2024 under ticker 2598. The company said it serves more than 13.3 million clients across more than 200 countries and regions.
According to Lianlian DigiTech, its network supports transactions and settlements in more than 140 currencies and connects with over 180 global e-commerce platforms. It also said it holds 68 payment licences and related authorizations worldwide, as well as a Hong Kong virtual asset trading platform licence.
Those licences could help LianLian Global offer a more unified service to companies that need to collect internationally and pay Chinese suppliers or business partners. Licensing alone does not remove country-specific requirements, but it gives payment firms the regulated footing needed to build compliant local partnerships.
Cobre said it processed more than $17 billion across 28 million transactions in 2025, served over 300 enterprise clients, and achieved profitability during the year. Its existing services include stablecoin payments, a feature that may appeal to businesses seeking quicker settlement between currencies before funds move into local banking systems.
Neither company said that stablecoins would be a required component of the China-Latin America service. The initial announcement instead centers on access to local payment rails and licensed payout infrastructure. That distinction leaves room for conventional bank transfers, local real-time payment networks, or digital-asset settlement methods depending on the client, corridor, and applicable rules.
Expansion will depend on execution
The partnership begins with a focused connection between Cobre's Latin American footprint and LianLian Global's China network, but both companies said they expect to add payment corridors and use cases over time.
Its commercial test will be whether the integration can deliver predictable settlement and clear pricing across a region with varied currencies, banking systems, and compliance obligations. China-Latin America trade has the volume to support specialized payment infrastructure, yet corporate clients will judge the service on operational details: delivery speed, foreign-exchange rates, payment visibility, and the ability to resolve exceptions when a transfer requires review.
For LianLian Global, the Cobre link extends its reach into a market where local payment access can be more valuable than simply offering another international transfer channel. For Cobre, access to LianLian's China payout network could give Latin American enterprises a more direct way to pay Chinese suppliers as commercial ties between the regions deepen.
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