Singapore, July 3, 2013 - (ANTARA) - WeChat, a leading mobile social communication application, announced today that it has surpassed the 70 million registered user accounts milestone, demonstrating its global popularity. Connecting people in an innovative way, WeChat has consistently been the most downloaded mobile social application in numerous countries including India, Malaysia, Mexico and the Philippines.

To further boost its strong growth momentum, WeChat this month unveiled a new global campaign featuring football superstar Lionel Messi, who joins a glittering cast of musicians, artists, fashion icons and VIPs, to share their WeChat experience with fans and followers.

As part of the new global initiative, fans can follow Messi's official WeChat account, WeChat ID: MessiOfficial, which will include videos, voice messages and photos from Messi. In addition, a global TV commercial with his WeChat experience is launched today. The commercial features WeChat's latest slogan "We Love. We Share. WeChat" and showcases how Messi connects to people he cares for and loves on WeChat.

Whether they seek to create text message, share moments, or engage in live audio and video, WeChat allows its users to enjoy all these features in one innovative app, for free.

"We are thrilled to have reached the 70 million registered user accounts mark in such a short space of time. We are listening to our users' needs and delivering an application that keeps them connected through voice, video, and sharing of pictures and important moments," said Poshu Yeung, Vice President of International Business Group at Tencent, the company behind the WeChat app.

"As a football superstar and a WeChat user, Lionel is an ideal personality to help us continue to raise awareness and communicate the benefits of WeChat. We are excited to be working with Lionel to bring WeChat to people who value the intimate connections with those closest to their hearts," added Yeung.

For further details on Messi's WeChat experience, please visit www.wechat.com/messi .

Popular Features Users Love about WeChat

WeChat is free to install, use and download. Users can text each other, swap voice messages with a "Hold to Talk" feature, video chat, as well as share images, music, and videos. It supports all smartphone platforms including Android, BlackBerry, iOS, Symbian, and Windows Phone operating systems.

Key features WeChat offers:

-- Voice and Video Chatting

'Hold-To-Talk' enables users to send voice messages at the touch of a button. Quality of video chat is another added value experience. You can talk to your friends face to face in an easy-to-use way.

-- Moments
Sharing photos, texts and URL links with trusted friends and contacts.

-- Group Chatting
Group chat on WeChat allows users to chat with as many as 40 people at the same time, making the group chatting experience better than ever before.

-- Location Based Features
With innovative features like 'Shake' and 'Look Around', it has never been easier to find friends around you. Shake enables users to contact people around the world by shaking their devices. Look around is another innovative feature that enables users to find like-minded people around them.

-- Official Accounts
A feature that can be utilized by brands, celebrities and merchants to build interactivity with their followers. Free SDK and API are available for "Official Accounts" owners and developers to develop applications on WeChat.

-- Web WeChat
Chat with someone using a PC Browser.

-- Security Setting
WeChat comes with comprehensive privacy setting functions, which enables users to limit who they share their information with.

About WeChat

WeChat is an innovative mobile social communications application designed for smartphone users. WeChat is free for downloads from app stores running on iOS, Android, Symbian, BlackBerry and Windows Phone operating systems*. WeChat users can add friends by a wide range of innovative actions and methods, including scanning QR codes, connecting users' Facebook profiles and phone books and activating location-based functions such as "Look Around" and "Shake". This application enhances social interaction by supporting exchanges of text, voice and video, emoticons, and photos with their friends over data networks. Users can choose to communicate on one-on-one, or within their closed social network through "Moments". For more information and application download, please visit www.wechat.com .

* Some features may not be available for certain operating systems due to the product development cycle.

Webpage: http://www.wechat.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wechatsingapore

For more information, please contact:

Katie Lee
Tencent
+852 3148 5100 ext 68889
Email: katielee@tencent.com

Mark Koh/Valerie Wang
Ogilvy Public Relations
+65 9022 3938/+65 9176 0250
Email: mark.koh@ogilvy.com/
valerie.wang@ogilvy.com

Editor: PR Wire
Copyright © ANTARA 2013