WeChat Mini Programs Showcases New Capabilities to Celebrate its Third Anniversary

GUANGZHOU, China, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent's WeChat team today celebrated WeChat Mini Programs' 3^rd Anniversary by revealing that total transaction value generated on Mini Programs has exceeded 800 billion RMB in 2019, an increase of 160% year-on-year and a clear demonstration of the platform's tremendous business value. The announcement took place at the 2020 WeChat Open Class PRO event in Guangzhou, the flagship conference for business partners and developers where Tencent shares successful business cases and technological upgrades across the WeChat smart lifestyle ecosystem.

WeChat Mini Programs, which give users instant access to enterprise services and create tremendous business value to merchants and service providers, were pioneered by WeChat in 2017 and today attracts over 300 million active daily users. In 2019, the average number of Mini Programs used per user increased 98% and the average usage increased 45%. In 2020, WeChat Mini Programs will focus on empowering business ecosystems and opening up more capabilities for developers including livestreaming.

Report reveals the "Power of the QR Code"

WeChat launched its first research report about the significant use and economic influence of QR codes - The Power of the QR Code - The WeChat Economic Impact Report 2020 and highlights how WeChat and QR codes help connect business and society. For businesses, the use of QR codes by WeChat has multiplied touchpoints to improve customers engagement leading to tremendous business success. It also brings innovative ways of doing business and fosters a startup culture and eco-system in China. Mini Programs have lowered costs and improved the efficiency of setting up new business. Today, a total of 79.4% of small to mid-merchants in China are WeChat Pay users while WeChat has been identified as directly and indirectly creating 26.1 million job opportunities.

WeChat Pay continues to grow its international reach with the strong growth of Chinese outbound tourism, with cross-border payment services now offered in more than 60 markets.

WeChat Work, WeChat's dedicated product for work communication, showcased its 3.0 version with enhanced connection capabilities with WeChat and more tools to help enterprises improve efficiency. WeChat Work now serves more than 2.5 million companies and 60 million monthly active users. 

Allen Zhang, Founder of WeChat, shared his observations on the wider impact of technology and his thoughts for WeChat's future development. "At WeChat, we used to focus on perfecting every feature we launched. Today, we are more focused on how to prioritize and dedicate our efforts to creating value for users and customers," Zhang said to developers over video at the conference. "With the rapid development of mobile Internet in recent years, everyone is online at all times, facing massive amounts of information and significant challenges," he added. "Through our own efforts and open collaboration with all partners and players across the industry, we are committed to exploring emerging issues, as well as addressing the challenges facing WeChat and the industry."

About WeChat

Launched in 2011, Weixin/WeChat has been enhancing the lives of hundreds of millions of users with its innovative features. The most widely used Chinese social media platform integrates instant messaging and social entertainment, bringing about a mobile digital lifestyle on an easy- to-use app. Users get to engage in real-time communications via free text and multimedia messages, make voice/video calls or share photos on their "Moments." Other lifestyle recreational features include "Games," "Sticker Gallery," and other functions. Continuously evolving around users' needs, Weixin/WeChat also offers enterprises "Official Accounts" to create original consumer experiences through its open platform and extended services such as Weixin/WeChat Pay for a truly mobile digital lifestyle. Weixin/WeChat reached more than 1.15 billion monthly active user accounts as of September 2019. Weixin/WeChat has evolved into a connector and open platform across industries, connecting users with one another, with smart devices and with business services.

SOURCE Tencent Holdings Limited