I appreciate the efforts that the Chinese government is making for the tourists. After all, imagine tourists who want to pay by cash but various establishments cannot provide change due to the lack of local residents paying by cash. For example, I would not be surprised if food vendors at China International Import Expo ran out of cash and could not provide change for exhibitors or attendees. So it seems the government gave a gentle nudge to Alipay to roll out this service. They also launched the online police residence registrations for foreigners just a few days before the CIIE started. 

Hopefully, over time, they also become more considerate towards expats in China and allow them to pay using their Alipay accounts when they are traveling abroad. Currently, payments overseas is only available to Chinese people only.  🙁