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Tencent’s Weixin sees Singapore as a ‘strategic market’


“We see Singapore as a strategic market for Weixin,” Etienne Ng, Southeast Asia’s regional director for Weixin Pay, told CNBC in an email. He added that the company aims to “make it easier for Chinese tourists to patronize local merchants” as China reopens.

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Tencent is expanding its presence in Singapore — and China’s a big reason.

The Chinese tech giant has struck new partnerships with Singapore businesses such as ride-hailing app Grab through its digital messaging app, WeChat/Weixin.

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“We see Singapore as a strategic market for Weixin,” Etienne Ng, Southeast Asia’s regional director for Weixin Pay, told CNBC in an email. He added that the company aims to “make it easier for Chinese tourists to patronize local merchants” as China reopens.

WeChat/Weixin provides instant messaging and social media services, and can function as a digital wallet. Weixin is a version of the app that targets mainland Chinese, and its separate sister app, WeChat, is its international version. The app has about 1.3 billion monthly users.

In December 2022, Grab launched a “mini-program,” or feature, within the Weixin app which allows users to book its services across over 480 cities in Southeast Asia without having to download the Grab app separately.

Grab is currently the only ride-hailing app available on the platform in Singapore. In Grab’s mini-program, Chinese travelers can also choose to pay via WeChat/Weixin Pay in Chinese yuan.

Volume of Chinese travelers to Singapore won't fully recover in 2023: Singapore Tourism Board

Grab is optimistic that Southeast Asia will benefit from the return of Chinese travelers to the region, said Shawn Heng, group head of business development at Grab, citing the company’s data.

“Chinese travelers represented the largest group of non-Southeast Asian users using the Grab app in 2019,” he added.

Weixin is also working with the Singapore Tourism Board on an updated version of a mini-program called MeetSG, targeting Chinese MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) travelers to Singapore. Cities such as Las Vegas and Hangzhou have developed similar programs with Weixin, but Singapore remains the first and only country with such an arrangement.

In April last year, even the country’s zoo started to use the app’s livestreaming functions to engage with the Chinese audience during border closures, said Damon Wee, vice president of digital marketing at Singapore’s Mandai Wildlife Group.

Why Singapore

Challenges ahead

Travel recovery won’t be smooth sailing, however.

Willy Chang, partner at Bain & Company, said a number of challenges have to be dealt with before a full recovery happens: higher air fares, supply shortages (of flights, staff and so on) and global macroeconomic headwinds.

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