Difference Between China's Country Codes CN and C2 #country_code
When reading the PayPal API documentation’s country codes, I found two codes listed for China: CN and C2, so I investigated the difference between them.
Background: The CN and C2 Country Code Issue
CHINA
- CN (For domestic Chinese bank transactions only)
- C2 (For CUP, bank card and cross-border transactions)
When translated to Japanese, it appears that CN and C2 country codes need to be used differently for domestic Chinese and international payments.
- CN (For payments with Chinese banks within China only)
- C2 (For CUP [China UnionPay] bank cards and cross-border transactions)
C2 is a country code uniquely defined by PayPal; generally, China’s country code is CN.
How to Handle CN and C2 in Programs
When developing international e-commerce sites with PayPal as a payment option, I think implementing with the following policy would be good:
- Use CN for shipping country selection options
- Only convert CN to C2 when using PayPal API and call the API
- Use CN for shipping services (EMS or Shippo, etc.)
- Handle all other logic with CN
PayPal’s unique C2 should only appear when using PayPal API, so using CN for everything else is simple. Otherwise, you’d need to define both CN and C2 for China alone for country code determination, which would lead to awkward implementation.
Reference Information
That’s all from the Gemba.