Almost every app subscription in China auto-renews until you cancel it, and cancelling inside the app often is not enough.
Almost every app subscription in China defaults to 自动续费 (auto-renew), usually after a cheap first month, and it keeps charging your WeChat Pay or Alipay quietly until you cancel it at the source. The catch is that cancelling inside the app often is not enough; the real off-switch lives in WeChat's and Alipay's own payment settings. Check both lists and you can stop the drain in ten minutes.
It is the most Shanghai of small annoyances. You signed up for a ¥1 (USD 0.15) month of a video app to watch one show, forgot about it, and nine months later it has quietly taken ¥25 (USD 3.70) a month from your Alipay the whole time. Nobody emailed you. Here is where the money is leaking and exactly how to shut it off.
Why you are paying for things you forgot
The mechanism is called 连续包月 (continuous monthly), and it is the default on nearly every paid app here, not a trick so much as a setting you probably did not notice. You take the cheap or free first month, the app files an auto-deduction authorisation against your WeChat Pay or Alipay, and from then on it renews itself every cycle at full price, often ¥15 to ¥30 (USD 2 to 4.50) a month, with no reminder you will actually see. One or two of these is easy to miss. Five of them is a real monthly bill for things you do not use.
Most of these charges are not for things you use; they are for things you forgot to cancel.
The master switch inside WeChat
Most of your auto-renewals route through WeChat Pay, and they are all listed in one place. Open WeChat, tap Me (我) → Services (服务) → Wallet (钱包), open the top-right menu into Payment settings (支付设置), and find 扣费服务 or 自动续费 (deductions / auto-renewals). Everything that is authorised to charge you sits in that list. Tap each one you do not want and 关闭 (close) it. This cancels the payment authorisation itself, which is why it works even when the app keeps pretending you are still subscribed.
The master switch inside Alipay
The other half of your subscriptions bill through Alipay, so check it too. Open Alipay, tap Me (我的) → the settings gear (设置) → Payment settings (支付设置) → 免密支付/自动扣款 (password-free payment / auto-deductions). You will see the full list of merchants allowed to charge you automatically. Tap any you do not recognise or no longer want and choose 关闭服务 (close service). Between the WeChat and Alipay lists, you can see every recurring charge against your name in Shanghai in about five minutes.
The apps that do it most
Some categories are far worse than others. These are the ones worth checking first.
The one-yuan trial trap, and how to beat it
The ¥1 (USD 0.15) or free first month is the hook, and it works because you forget. Two habits beat it. First, the moment you sign up for any trial, set a phone reminder for two days before it renews, so you decide on purpose instead of by forgetting. Second, once a season, open both the WeChat and Alipay auto-renew lists above and treat them like a bank statement: anything you have not opened in a month, close. It is the cheapest raise you will give yourself all year.
If you were already overcharged
If an app charged you after you thought you had cancelled, you have a real case, because the law is on your side here (see the sources below). Start in the app's own 客服 (customer service) and ask for a refund of the wrongful charge. If that stalls, raise a complaint through WeChat Pay or Alipay against the merchant, and if it still is not resolved, call 12315, the national consumer-rights hotline, or file on its app. Keep the screenshots of the charges and of your cancellation; they settle these quickly.
Which one is for you
If you just want the drain to stop today, open the WeChat and Alipay auto-renew lists and close everything you do not actively use.
If you are signing up for a new trial, set a reminder for two days before it renews, then decide on purpose.
If you were charged after cancelling, gather the screenshots and ask the app, then WeChat or Alipay, then 12315.
How do I cancel auto-renew (自动续费) on a Chinese app?
Cancel it at the payment source, not just in the app. In WeChat, go to Me (我) → Services (服务) → Wallet (钱包) → Payment settings (支付设置) → 扣费服务 / 自动续费 and close each one. In Alipay, go to Me (我的) → Settings (设置) → Payment settings (支付设置) → 免密支付/自动扣款 and close the service.
Why do Chinese apps keep charging me after I cancel?
Because deleting the app or turning off auto-renew inside it does not remove the payment authorisation held by WeChat Pay or Alipay. Until you close that authorisation in WeChat's or Alipay's own payment settings, the merchant can keep deducting. Cancel in both places to be sure.
How do I stop a one-yuan trial from charging me full price?
The ¥1 (USD 0.15) trial files an auto-renew authorisation the moment you join. The moment you sign up, set a phone reminder for two days before it renews, and cancel it in your WeChat or Alipay auto-renew list before the cheap month ends.
Can I get a refund if an app charged me after I cancelled?
Often yes. Ask the app's 客服 (customer service) first with screenshots of the charge and your cancellation, then raise a complaint through WeChat Pay or Alipay against the merchant, and if needed call 12315, the consumer-rights hotline. A 2024 regulation requires clear notice and easy cancellation, so you have grounds.
Where do I see every subscription I am paying for in China?
Two lists hold almost all of them: WeChat's 扣费服务 / 自动续费 list (Me → Services → Wallet → Payment settings) and Alipay's 免密支付/自动扣款 list (Me → Settings → Payment settings). Apple subscriptions sit separately under your Apple ID. Check all three once a season.
Sources · 资料来源
- State Council of the PRC (国务院). Regulations for the Implementation of the Consumer Rights Protection Law (消费者权益保护法实施条例), State Council Order No. 778, in force 1 July 2024, requires conspicuous notice before an automatic renewal and a convenient way to cancel. gov.cn
- Consumer complaints: 12315, the national market-regulation hotline and app (全国12315平台).
Laozi wrote 知足者富, the one who knows what is enough is already rich. Half of these subscriptions are things you decided, once, that you had quite enough of.
Words, maps and research by the Choice Shanghai team. Please credit us and tag our 公众号 if you share.
