Craving for your favourite takeaway cuisine? WeChat now delivers in seven markets. The popular mobile-messaging service of mainland internet giant Tencent has expanded into the food delivery business through a partnership with e-commerce start-up foodpanda. This marks a new milestone for Tencent as its so-called online-to-offline service capabilities now extend outside the mainland. Users of WeChat, known as Weixin on the mainland, can now browse nearby restaurants, receive exclusive promotional offers and order food through the app in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and India. "We see this partnership with foodpanda as an extension of giving our customers what they want," Poshu Yeung, the vice-president at Tencent's international business group, said yesterday. WeChat, which has 468 million active monthly users worldwide, has steadily grown its services beyond messaging and mobile games. Through the app, users can already book taxis under its partnership with Brazil-founded Easy Taxi and shop for clothes via online fashion retailer Zalora, based in Singapore. Liu Xingliang, chairman at internet data analysis firm Hongmai Software in Beijing, said: "Tencent needs many different services that drive use of WeChat's mobile payment tool." Easy Taxi, Zalora and foodpanda are all start-ups incubated by Rocket Internet, one of the world's biggest e-commerce-focused venture capital firms. Berlin-based foodpanda, along with its affiliated brands hellofood and Delivery Club, is active in 38 markets around the world where more than 25,000 restaurants are already on its online marketplace. WeChat's mobile food delivery function follows the order-processing set-up found on foodpanda's standalone mobile app and website. After entering their location, users can immediately access a variety of restaurants and cuisines delivering to their area. The app collaboration between WeChat and foodpanda allows for both cash-on-delivery and integrated online payment options. "It is very likely that WeChat will launch a similar [app-based food delivery] service in China through other online-to-offline partnerships," Hongmai's Liu said. There could be a mainland takeaway partner for WeChat waiting in the wings. JD.com the mainland's biggest direct online retailer in which Tencent has a 15 per cent stake,and Macquarie Capital recently led a US$50 million investment in Beijing Shishang Renjia Networks Technology, which operates online food delivery service Daojia. This service currently has more than one million users. Lai See is on holiday