What Is WeChat?

Tencent/WeChat is a massive company beloved by the Chinese.

#1 in China

1,2 billion monthly active users with 6% annual growth.

#3 globally

Despite having >95% of its users located in China, WeChat is the #3 social messaging platform globally.

Most valued brand in Asia

According to some estimates, Tencent, the company behind WeChat, is together with Alibaba the most valued brand in Asia.

The primary function of WeChat is chat messaging, similar to WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Line.

Main screen of WeChat after opening the app: List of recent chats. Users can also send text messages, pictures, videos, voice messages, transfer money, share location and audio/video call.

One day of WeChat: How do people use WeChat.

Official accounts

For many Chinese, WeChat is the internet. Official WeChat accounts are the equivalent of a company website.

Accounts are operated by brands, online stores, media, public organizations and bloggers. Users can follow these accounts and read published stories, purchase goods and engage in comment sections. It is the place most Chinese consume their daily news.

Account profile

First page users see before following an official account.

News feed

Default page after following an official account.

Published stories are shown chronologically on the account’s page. Users are notified when new stories are published.

Buttons at the bottom open the account’s menu structure.

Menu structure

WeChat allows building complex menu structures. Thanks to this, WeChat can serve the function of your website for China.

Posted article

Articles posted on WeChat are comparable to blog posts.

They can contain text, pictures, videos and links to mini programs.

Unlike other social media, WeChat stories are typically long form articles with 300 - 2 000 Chinese words.

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Want to know how to register an official WeChat account for your business? We have made a guide with all the important steps.

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WeChat Pay

Built-in payment platform directly linked to user’s personal debit/credit card(s). WeChat Pay and Alipay together cover >95% of digital payments in China with about 50-50 split between the two companies.

WeChat Wallet is home to a number of payment related services allowing users to pay in store or online, transfer money to friends, pay for hotels, taxi, phone bill, utilities and more.

In-store payments are typically done by showing a QR code generated on your phone to a barcode scanner.

Online payments are typically done by scanning a QR off a computer screen or seamlessly for purchases done on phone.

Search

While Baidu will probably always have its place in China’s online world, it is falling in popularity as its search results have become heavily commercialized. The decline has been amplified by a number of scandals. WeChat has gradually become a viable alternative to Baidu.

Search results are limited to WeChat official accounts, WeChat Mini Programs, WeChat Moments and WeChat articles.

Although its search results are limited, the sheer amount of content available on WeChat made it an increasingly popular alternative to Baidu.

WeChat indexes all content posted on WeChat - by brands, bloggers and media companies.

Other functionality

WeChat have recently launched its Douyin/TikTok competitor short video platform.

WeChat has also become an extremely popular gaming platform (similar to Facebook’s games) with games available through Mini Programs.

Other functions are available mostly through WeChat Mini Programs.

WeChat in China