Tencent to trial paid subscription content in effort to monetise WeChat accounts

Tencent Holding’s share price rose as much as 3.1 per cent on Thursday after the Hong Kong-listed internet giant confirmed that it will soon allow content creators to get paid via subscription on WeChat, China’s most popular social media app.

Tencent on Wednesday said that selected WeChat accounts have already been invited to trial its paid content feature, adding that the service will be open to general users soon.

The paid subscription feature is seen as WeChat’s latest move to capitalise on its 846 million monthly active users to make inroads into the so-called paid knowledge era in China. Currently, WeChat has already positioned itself as a one-stop shop platform, allowing users to chat with friends, share updates and photos in their Moments feed, hail a cab, order food and even pay their utilities.

Getting users to pay for subscriptions is not only a way for WeChat to monetise, since it also increases the amount of time users spend in the WeChat app, according to Neil Wang, president for Frost & Sullivan Greater China.

“Content is going to become the next traffic inlet and Tencent will also try to establish a leading position in the content market with the introduction of paid content in its WeChat official accounts,” Wang said. “The strengthened copyright protection will attract more quality writers and hence expand the user coverage of WeChat.”