BEIJING - Global leading coffee shop chain Starbucks partnered with Chinese internet giant Tencent to make WeChat mobile payment available in all its coffee shops in China, Tencent announced Thursday.

Starting from Thursday, customers can pay by WeChat in about 2,500 Starbucks outlets across China, according to the strategic agreement inked by the two companies.

Before this, customers could only pay in cash, bank cards or Apple pay.

International accounting firm PwC revealed in a recent global survey that nearly one-third of Chinese respondents preferred mobile payment.

Meanwhile, the two companies will roll out a digital gift-giving service on WeChat early next year, allowing WeChat users to send and receive Starbucks digital gifts and then cash in them at offline outlets.

Starbucks will be the first retail brand to use the digital gift-sharing service, supported by the social network's 846 million monthly active users.