Tencent’s WeChat super app focuses on offline services to address changing needs of its 1 billion users
- The number of people using WeChat to pay their medical expenses saw a 2.9-times year-on-year increase
- The favourite emoji of the post-1990s generation was the face with tears of joy
China’s largest social networking platform WeChat consolidated its market position as a super app over the past year, with daily active users exceeding 1 billion.
As tech giant Tencent’s signature product, WeChat is a combination of WhatsApp, Facebook, PayPal and more, serving as a platform to host millions of mini-programmes that cover not only instant messaging needs but also ride-hailing, medical appointments, payments, food delivery services, to name a few.
However, WeChat is not without its challenges. Chinese authorities ordered WeChat to clean up pornographic and other “inappropriate” content and shut down offending accounts last October, forcing the app to tighten its control and management of content by cutting back the number of official accounts allowed for content producers and stepping up internal censorship.
In December, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology urged WeChat to reinforce its mini-programme management after online travel agent Tongcheng-elong’s mini programme collected user information without showing a user agreement, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Facing strong competitors like ByteDance, Tencent has sought to stay ahead by frequently adding innovations to WeChat that are designed to drive growth and build loyalty.