Leading apps in China 2023, by monthly active users

In August 2023, Tencent’s instant messenger service WeChat remained the most popular mobile app in China with around 1.08 billion monthly active users (MAUs). Its older sibling QQ was the second placeholder with about 792 million MAUs. Messaging, e-commerce, utility, and video streaming apps occupied the most spots in the top 20 list.

What makes WeChat so attractive to users?

WeChat is a multi-functional app beyond messaging and social networking. From mobile payment and taxi-hailing to making appointments and holiday planning, it provides almost everything to every mobile user in China. WeChat users are from various age groups from teenagers to old adults. In general, most WeChat users spent at least 10 minutes per day on the app. In fact, many companies also use this "super app" to advertise their brands, and its business version Wecom to communicate internally.

The promising future of short video apps

The rise of short video entertainment is another important trend in the world’s most populous country, especially in rural regions. ByteDance’s Douyin, which TikTok was cloned from, is one of the key players in the Chinese short video arena. Founded in 2016, Douyin had overtaken its imminent rival Kuaishou (Kwai) as China’s top short video app within four years. As the demand for rural life live streaming has been accelerating, industry experts expected that Chinese short form video market would continue to grow to reach a total revenue of over 500 billion yuan by 2023.