Wechat hits 1 billion monthly users worldwide

Popular Chinese social media app WeChat has recorded one billion monthly users for the first time, according to Pony Ma, chairman of WeChat's parent company Tencent.

Pony Ma, who is a deputy to this year's National People's Congress (NPC), revealed on Monday that the recent Spring Festival holiday put WeChat usage over the one billion mark through February.

Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma, a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), is interviewed before the opening meeting of this year's National People's Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Jinhai]

Tencent is reporting 768 million people used WeChat's digital "red envelopes" service through February.

Giving red envelopes with money is a Chinese tradition during the Spring Festival.

A mobile phone user receives a red envelope through WeChat on a smartphone. [Photo: IC]

A WeChat-focused consulting agency, ChinaChannel, says the growth in WeChat user accounts is coming from overseas, such as south-east Asia, Europe and the US, reports the Financial Times.

WeChat's earnings report through the 3rd quarter of 2017 shows user accounts had already reached 980 million.