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. China’s most popular messaging app, WeChat, has always had a close relationship with the Chinese government.
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