Chinese payment giant Alipay could acquire a stake of up to 25 per cent in Germany’s Wirecard, according to Bild am Sonntag.

The firm has said previously it will expand its presence in Europe and also has a strategy of expanding internationally by investing in local payments ventures.

The investment in Wirecard, a vendor of mobile payments systems, could increase beyond 25 per cent later.

The German firm would not comment directly on the matter but did say it was in strategic talks with various partners.

Another source said Ant Financial, the parent of Alipay, was not in talks with Wirecard.

The Chinese and German firms do currently work together to enable Chinese users visiting Europe to make payments with their smartphone and Alipay app at the point of sale in authorised retailers by using integrated barcode functionality from Wirecard. The service enables Chinese users to avoid incurring currency exchange fees.