On August 17, 2026, Alipay hosted its inaugural AI ecosystem conference in Hangzhou, marking a significant step in advancing agent-driven commercial systems across China.
The fintech platform, operated by Ant Group, introduced the country’s first comprehensive full-stack agent commercial foundation along with the AHA (Agent Hub Access) multi-agent cross-device interconnection protocol suite.
This rollout aims to equip merchants with tools for intelligent operations while enabling seamless collaboration among diverse AI agents, terminals, and service providers.
Ant Group CEO Cyril Han Xinyi highlighted that agentic commerce is poised for rapid expansion within the next six to twelve months.
As artificial intelligence capabilities mature alongside user demand and closed-loop commercial value, AI agents are expected to serve as new intermediaries linking hundreds of millions of consumers with millions of businesses.
The initiative positions agents as central carriers for intent-based services rather than traditional app-centric interactions.
The newly released commercial foundation focuses primarily on helping merchants transition from conventional digital management to intelligent operations.
For businesses lacking advanced AI expertise, Alipay’s AI open platform converts existing pages, product catalogs, and service processes into standardized units such as Skills and MCP protocols that agents can readily invoke.
Merchants already equipped with some AI capabilities gain access to tools for creating agents, arranging skills, executing tasks, and managing operations.
Complementing this, Ant Group’s digital technology unit unveiled the Agentar ecosystem edition, which supplies more than 200 specialized skill packages tailored to high-frequency commercial scenarios plus digital expert agents.
These support multi-merchant agent collaboration through agent-to-agent capabilities.
A core element of the announcement is the AHA protocol system. It encompasses intelligent interaction standards, agent interconnection protocols, and device perception and execution frameworks.
The suite addresses longstanding challenges of service adaptation and secure coordination across industries, entities, and manufacturers.
Users can issue a single spoken or typed request and complete an entire process involving multi-agent collaboration, secure fulfillment, and transaction settlement.
The protocols incorporate domain-specific authorization and data isolation to maintain clear trust boundaries while enabling efficient handshakes between agents from different vendors.
Alipay partnered with more than twenty terminal makers, automakers, and large-model developers—including Qwen, Huawei, OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Honor, BYD, Geely, Li Auto, NIO, StepFun, and Rokid—to launch a joint multi-agent interconnection and collaboration ecosystem initiative.
Li Jun, president of the Alipay business group, noted that service entry points are shifting from single applications toward a broader array of devices such as smartphones, in-car systems, AI glasses, IoT hardware, and large-model applications.
Once a merchant adapts a service, it can be distributed via Alipay’s Ah Bao (Abao) agent across multiple terminals.Ah Bao itself has made substantial progress since its invite-only testing phase began in June.
More than ten thousand services have undergone AI adaptation, spanning eight major categories that include transportation, dining, culture and tourism, and government livelihood services.
Brands such as McDonald’s, Mixue, Luckin Coffee, Gaode Maps, Didi, Deppon Express, YTO Express, and Hive Box have integrated.
Cross-device coverage now reaches five smartphone brands representing over 70 percent market share and sixteen leading automakers, with additional partnerships underway for smart glasses, watches, and large-model apps.
Demand for developer access has been strong enough that some requests are already scheduled into the following year.
To accelerate adoption, Alipay introduced an intelligent operations incentive program offering free computing tokens, reduced payment rates, transaction subsidies, and complimentary access to fifty-seven atomic business capabilities such as membership systems, merchant coupons, Sesame Credit, and leasing tools.
Officials emphasized the goal of supplying reliable industrial infrastructure that connects service supply, user needs, and commercial fulfillment, moving AI beyond conversation toward practical task execution, transactions, and sustained business management.
This coordinated release of foundational tools, protocols, and partnerships underscores Alipay’s effort to establish infrastructure for China’s emerging agent economy, where autonomous systems increasingly handle everyday commerce on users’ behalf.
