The Chinese business sector has been quick to act out after Seoul and Beijing last week suddenly announced “normalization” of bilateral ties strained for more than a year over the deployment of a U.S. antimissile defense system in Korea.

According to sources from the Korean retail industry on Thursday, China’s state-run broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) has reportedly asked Hanwha Galleria for permission for a live broadcast of its department stores and duty-free shops at its CCTV2 channel, as part of promotional programs for China’s biggest shopping event Singles’ Day on Nov. 11. CCTV stopped relaying news and contents related to Korea since Korea decided to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system last year.

China’s biggest mobile payment service Alipay operated by Alibaba also said that seven Korean duty-free operators and Lotte Department Store will take part in its 1212 promotional event that gives back 5 percent of the purchasing price to customers via their Alipay account from Dec. 1 to 31.

Alipay requested the participating stores to have Alipay logos attached to their cashiers’ booth starting Friday, according to sources. “It is a sign that Chinese visitors are returning as Alipay is the most widely used mobile payment service by Chinese,” said an industry source.

Chinese tourists who accounted for a majority of foreign tourists to Korea have nearly disappeared on the streets of Seoul after Beijing banned group tours of its people to the neighboring country in protest against the antimissile system deployment.

Some local travel agencies in China last week announced renewal of group tours to Korea and the country’s budget carriers are preparing to start services to Jeju Island, the most popular resort island in Korea.

By Lee Yoo-jin and Choi Mira

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]