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Didi Chuxing’s mini app disappears from WeChat and Alipay for new users after Beijing orders it to halt new account registrations
- The company’s mini program no longer appears in searches by new users in China’s biggest super apps
- Didi had previously warned that the ban on new user registration will negatively impact revenues
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Didi Chuxing’s mini program on two of China’s most used mobile applications, WeChat and Alipay, is no longer available for new users after Beijing orders it to halt new account registrations.
On Wednesday, the ride-hailing giant’s mini program did not appear in searches by new users within WeChat, a super app run by Tencent Holdings, and Alipay, owned by Ant Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding. However, those who had previously accessed the mini app could still find and use it.
Didi Chuxing has also disappeared from WeChat’s payment page for third-party services for some users. It remains unclear how many users are affected, but the removal could negatively affect Didi’s revenue given that it was a widely used entry point to the service.
Didi has not disclosed the revenue breakdown from the two super apps but said earlier that the ban on new user registrations will negatively impact revenues.
Mini programs are lightweight apps that do not need to be downloaded and can be run inside other apps. In China, this means that companies have almost immediate access to the 1.2 billion users on WeChat and the 1 billion on Alipay.
Tencent, Ant Group and Didi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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