WeChat will issue virtual ID cards, which individuals would use in lieu of physical state-issued ID cards. Now WeChat is poised to become China’s electronic ID system, state-run Xinhua reported in December. WeChat’s transition to an electronic ID system is a “predictable evolution” Overseas Chinese or anyone with family or relationships in China tend to download the messaging app in order to stay in contact since other American apps are banned. “WeChat becomes harder and harder for its users to opt out,” says Yuhua Wang, a former Shanghai resident who wrote a piece called “How WeChat grows into a huge part of our life,” for USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. (Tencent is a content partner of The Verge in China.) WeChat’s dominance is aided by the government, which has censored Facebook Messenger since 2009, blocked the South Korean-owned Line app in 2015, and banned WhatsApp last year. State-run media and government agencies also have official WeChat accounts, where they can directly communicate with users. Last year, Tencent added mini-apps to WeChat, creating an app store of sorts: inside WeChat, you can play games, pay bills, find local hangouts, book doctor appointments, file police reports, hail taxis, hold video conferences, and access bank services. “There is nothing in any other country that is comparable: not LINE, not WhatsApp, not Facebook.”įounded in 2011 and owned by Tencent, WeChat has 902 million daily users, and about 38 billion messages are sent on the platform every day. “For all intents and purposes WeChat is your phone, and to a far greater extent in China than anywhere else, your phone is everything,” wrote Ben Thompson, analyst and founder of the blog Stratechery. It may be hard for people outside of China to grasp just how influential WeChat has become there. Now, WeChat is poised to take on an even greater role: an initiative is underway to integrate WeChat with China’s electronic ID system. The app has been subsidized by the government since its creation in 2011, and it’s an accepted reality that officials censor and monitor users. – Rappler.China’s most popular messaging app, WeChat, has always had a close relationship with the Chinese government. It said in the statement the deal would be completed by the end of the year. The company announced in June it had agreed to buy Finnish game-maker Supercell Oy, creator of Clash of Clans, from Japanese mobile firm SoftBank for $8.6 billion (P398.26 billion). “In recent months, we have conducted several initiatives to develop our online games and digital content businesses,” chairman Ma Huateng said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, where it is listed. Tencent’s online games business grew by 32% to 17.12 billion yuan (P119.7 billion) in revenues in the second quarter, helped by existing gaming offerings including popular Cross Fire Mobile and Honor of Kings, it said. ![]() The company said Weixin “further penetrated into communication scenarios at work,” with 20 million active users registered on its platform for enterprises. The company’s messaging service is expanding into the corporate sector. Monthly active users for WeChat – known as Weixin in Chinese – reached 806 million from 600 million in June last year. Revenue jumped by 52% from 23.43 billion yuan (P163.81 billion) to 35.69 billion yuan (P249.52 billion), the technology company said.īased in the Chinese southern export hub of Shenzhen, Tencent operates China’s biggest messaging service WeChat, through which a variety of businesses including gaming, advertising and social networking have flourished in recent years. Net profit for the three months to June rose to 10.74 billion yuan (P75.08 billion) from 7.31 billion yuan (P51.11 billion) in the same period last year, beating the average analyst estimate of 9.52 billion yuan (P66.56 billion) according to a Bloomberg survey. HONG KONG, China – Chinese Internet giant Tencent said Wednesday, August 17, its profits jumped by 47% in the second quarter, buoyed by new users of its popular messaging service WeChat, gaming and digital content.
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