WeChat, one of Tencent’s social networks, has more than 700 million monthly active users as of March. With WeChat being used by the majority of China’s smartphone users, Tencent is integrating nearly everything into its WeChat platform, including services as diverse as car-hailing, restaurant reservations, home services and civilian services like utilities bill payments, weather forecasting and real-time traffic reporting.
Last Friday, Tencent Group, which is headquartered in the Southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shenzhen’s Bureau of Human Resource and Social Security to join hands in sectors of governmental affairs and civilian services in order to explore a new model for “Internet+” urban services.
The cooperation will involve government departments and public institutions making their services available on WeChat. The most exciting news for users would be that citizens covered by national medical insurance could make medical services payments on WeChat after binding their WeChat account with their social security accounts.
Besides Shenzhen, Tencent has made similar cooperation agreements with 35 other cities including Beijing and Guangzhou in terms of social security sectors.
In addition to partnerships with the government, Tencent also launched its own app named TENCARE DOCTOR last month, a management tool and a platform for doctors to build their own brand and a SNS for doctors and patients. It has reportedly formed partnerships with nine doctors groups in China, which are an emerging form of private practice for doctors in China.
(Top photo from epaper.citygf.com)
