An official at China’s National Development and Reform Commission apparently created a storm this week after publicly endorsing information technology giant Tencent for charging a fee for its currently free App - Wechat.
Wechat is an instant text and voice messaging application developed by Tencent that runs on multiple platforms including Android and IOS. The most popular instant messaging App in China, Wechat has attracted hundreds of millions of mobile phone users at home.
“If Wechat doesn’t charge a fee, then why do text messages charge a fee? This is basic economics. If text messages charge a fee, then so should Wechat.”
His comment quickly went viral on China’s social media, where netizens expressed their own views with vigour:
“If Wechat is free, then text messages should also be free,” wrote one blogger.