Social networks 'not a way out of trouble' for Alipay

Online payments service should not try to take on Tencent, WeChat

In traditional Chinese culture, one undergoes a 12-year cycle to reach his or her zodiac year of birth. In order to appease the God of Age, people are advised to pay special attention to avoid misfortune in their life every 12 years.

Perhaps, 12 years into business, Alipay, the nation's - or perhaps the world's - largest online payment system should also try to propitiate the God of Age, as even with 450 million users, the digital wallet provider had a bumpy year in 2016.