Banking institutions handled 70.8 trillion yuan (USD 11.1 trillion) in mobile payments in the period, up 16.8% year-on-year, data from the central bank showed.
Around 10.7 billion payments were made through the banks mobile services in the first quarter, an increase of 17.8% year-on-year.
Chinas mobile payment sector has seen rapid development, driven by improved internet infrastructure, increased use of mobile phones and innovation in financial services.
In the first quarter, bank card transactions in China rose 12.6% from 2017, while the number of bank cards in use went up 4.8% to 7 billion by the end of March 2018, according to the PBC.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now