In recent years, China’s Internet industry has continued to develop steadily, and the Internet has become an important tool to promote China’s economic and social development. CNNIC data shows that as of June 2022, China’s Internet users was 1.051 billion. In this article, I’ll show you The Top 10 Chinese Social Media.
Table of contents
- Why Chinese Social Media?
- Top 10 Chinese Social Media by MAUs [2022]
- Chinese social media marketing strategy
Why Chinese Social Media?
Due to the strict social media environment in China. Chinese are forbidden to use the social media platforms that not based on China. So, we are not able to use WhatsApp, Meta, YouTube, Telegram, Instagram, YouTube, Line, etc. All of them are blocked by GFW. Even the Google search engine. As long as the social media has messaging feature. Chinese are not able to access.
As for as I know, only Skype is working in China.
Thus, if you want to contact someone in China. You should choose to Chinese social media instead of social media from outside of China.
Besides, Many brands or companies are interested in the Chinese social media marketing to promote brands or businesses. The online business is going viral in China. You shouldn’t miss this chance.
In this article only show you the top 10 social medias in China. If you need more info about Chinese social media marketing or Chinese online business. Please check out my other articles, or contact me.
China doesn’t have many instant messaging Apps. Actually Chinese only use two instant messaging apps in China, it’s not because there are any strict rules to creating instant messaging Apps. It is because of the monopoly. The Chinese tach-giant Tencent group owns the only two most used instant messaging app, WeChat and QQ.
Those apps/platforms are all owned by Chinese tech-giant Tencent.
- Instant messaging: WeChat, QQ, Tim
- Video: WeChat Channels, Tencent video
- Music: QQ music
- Games: PUBG, Arena Of Valor, QQ Speed Mobile
- Mail: QQ mail, Foxmail
- Map: Tencent map
- QQ reading, QQ keyboard, QQ news, etc.
Tencent company has been the tech-giant for decades. Now the TikTok owner, BiteDance is a new tech-giant on social media field.
Top 10 Chinese Social Media by MAUs [2022]
Now, let look at the top 10 social media by monthly active users. And most data are from company financial reports.
| Chinese Social Media | MAU (Monthly Active Users) | |
| 1 | WeChat (微信) | 1.309 billion |
| 2 | Douyin (抖音) | 680 million |
| 3 | Kuaishou (快手) | 626 million |
| 4 | Weibo (新浪微博) | 584 million |
| 5 | 574 million | |
| 6 | Bilibili (B 站) | 333 million |
| 7 | Xiaohongshu (小红书) | 200 million |
| 8 | MoMo (陌陌) | 108.8 million |
| 9 | Zhihu (知乎) | 100 million |
| 10 | Soul | 31.6 million |
NOTE: Q-zone is built in QQ, WeChat Channels is built in WeChat, so not ranking here separately.
1.WeChat (Weixin)
Launched: 2011
Company: Tencent
Stock code: HK 00700
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 1.309 billion (3Q, 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 140.1 billion (3Q, 2022)
WeChat (named Weixin in China) was released in 2011. At the very beginning, WeChat is a kind of dating App. Because WeChat had 4 main features that are very suitable for dating. They are “Shake”, “Nearby”, “Won’t Store chatting history” and “Message in a bottle”. Besides, WeChat grew fast was based on QQ users.
Few years later, many qq users choose WeChat as the main instant messaging App. Now WeChat isn’t only an instant messaging App, Since WeChat Pay, WeChat official account, WeChat mini program, and WeChat Channels released. You never know how powerful it is. WeChat combines shopping, payment, searching, messaging, medias, and government public services, etc.
All build-in one app, it’s a super-app that’s why Elon Musk speak highly of WeChat over and over again.
“Think of it like WeChat in China, which is great now, but there’s no WeChat equivalent outside of China“
Musk said in response to a question about why he wants to buy the social media app.
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2. Douyin (Chinese TikTok)
Launched: 2016
Company: ByteDance Ltd.
Stock code: Null
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 680 million (June 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 18.3 billion (1Q-3Q 2022)
There is no need me to explain how popular the TikTok is in recent years. The short-video threated to the traditional video platforms. Even the biggest video platform in the world – YouTube has to launched Shorts. New video style not only threats to the video platforms but also to the other social medias.
Douyin launched in 2016, but TikTok launched in 2017 by ByteDance. ByteDance(字节跳动) founded in 2012 by Zhang Yiming.
Are TikTok same as Douyin?
Yes or No.
TikTok is a global short-video platform, but Chinese users can not access to. It’s different from other social medias can not access in China (Chinese users can only use China-based social media due to the CCP policy.).
However, TikTok banned Chinese users by BiteDance. Actually Chinese users can use VPN to access to any other social medias in the world.
But, Chinese can not access to the TikTok even with VPN. TikTok company used technical way to prohibited Chinese users. (Tip: If you want to use TikTok in China, you use some software to change ID and environment. Or root your phone and then use VPN to connect TikTok).
As for foreigners to use Douyin. Yes, as long as you use it properly, you can use Douyin.
TikTok and Douyin are the same when speaking with technology, owner, filters, video effects, etc. Bitedance company use different strategies to run Douyin and TikTok.
The same part of Douyin and TikTok, I don’t want to explain in details. The biggest differences are:
- Livestream selling goods (直播带货)
- Douyin store(抖音小店)
You must familiar with Live stream well, but you don’t know how crazy it is in China, used as a new business mode to selling products or services.
The arising of short video platforms (Douyin and Kuaishou) accelerate the live stream selling goods.
You may also need this: How to sign up Douyin account
3. Kuaishou (Chinese Kwai)
Launched: 2011
Company: Kuaishou Technology
Stock code: (HK:1024)
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 626 million (Q3, 2022)
Daily Active Users (DAUs): 363.4 million (Q3, 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 65.89 billion (Q3, 2022)
Gif Kuaishou was launched in 2011, it was only a gif maker tool. But, in 2013, Gif Kuaishou became a short-video platform. And it used a new name “Kuaishou” in 2014. Three years later, the global version of Kuaishou launched, named Kwai in 2017.
In China, there are two most popular short-video platforms. One is Douyin (TikTok), the other one is Kuaishou.
Due to the short-video rising, Kuaishou is growing fast just like it’s competitor Douyin (TikTok).
What’s the difference between Douyin and Kuaishou?
- Tiktok users are younger than Kuaishou
- User demographic
Tiktok users are more from tier 1 or 2 cities
Kuaishou has more followers from rural China. - Tiktok users are more creative and fashionable
Although, Douyin and KuaiShou are the most popular short-video app. But the top one is WeChat Channels (视频号) has 813 million monthly active users. which is built-in WeChat. So I don’t rank it here separately.
You may also need this: How to sign up Kuaishou account
4. Weibo (Sina Weibo)
Launched: 2009
Company: Weibo Corporation
Stock code: (NASDAQ: WB) and (HKEX: 9898)
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 584 million (Q3, 2022)
Daily Active Users (DAUs): 253 million (Sep, 2022)
Total Revenue: $453.6 million (Q3, 2022)
Weibo launched in 2009, is a microblogging platform copied from Twitter at the beginning, but made some changes according to the domestic users habits andLOGO cultures. It supports in the form of text, pictures, videos and other multimedia, to achieve instant information sharing, communication and interaction.
There is a saying, “If you want to go viral, go to Weibo“.
And you can use Weibo account as a login way to other website or platform.
- Simple to use
- Support Desktop and Mobile
- Chinese version (微博) and International version (Weibo Intl)
- Real-time topics trending
- Deliver breaking news
- Text, video, multimedia support
- Companies, Government, Organization and Stars use it as a channel to connect with audiences, people and users.
Weibo is very suitable for you to build your brands.
you may also need this: How to create Weibo account
5. QQ
Launched: 1999
Company: Tencent
Stock code: HK 00700
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 574 million (3Q 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 140.1 billion (3Q 2022)
QQ was launched in 1999 by Tencent company. The peak of monthly activity users (MAUs) of QQ was 899 million in 2016. The main reason is WeChat increased years by years and QQ decreased.
Does that mean QQ is not popular any more?
The answer is NO. QQ is the widely used by the ages from 15-25 years old. That’s the student’s ages. You can say, students might not use WeChat, but they do use QQ.
WeChat users are older than 16 years old mainly. But QQ is developing mainly for young generations now. Because the QQ users are decreased years by year, so Tencent company decided to gain more young generations. At least keep those generations at QQ.
QQ is so similar to WeChat, they all have instant messaging, payment, video, audio call, nearby features, etc.
What make QQ so special? Why QQ is still popular?
- QQ has many amine themes and skin decoration, which young generations like most.
- Q zone (Q zone is where for micro-blogging)
- New feature “小世界” short-video built-in App
- Fashionable and creativity UI design
- QQ PC version has many free tools like,
Screenshot
Screen-sharing (start a Meeting)
Desktop remote control
Fast file transfer, etc. - QQ mail (You registered QQ account, you also got an qq email address)
- Tencent games (like PUBG)
NOTE: Q-zone was built-in QQ app (Just like Facebook Feed),it’s where you can post content. So there is no need to rank it separately at all.
As for me, I still use QQ for work communication, or files transfer. No matter what how many user WeChat got, I still will prefer to use QQ when needed.
Tips: Despite the monthly active users, for Chinese, WeChat, QQ and Weibo are the top used social medias. Or you can say, WeChat is the must-used Chinese social media in every day. QQ is almost everyone has but might not everyone use every day. And Weibo has users ages from 18-35 years old.
As for why Douyin and TikTok have so many monthly active users, that’s because theirs content suits for all age, even who don’t educated at all. So not surprising at all.
Once you got either WeChat or QQ account, you can use them to login to other websites or apps. That’s really important for most foreigners users. The other one is Weibo. That’s why I think the top three social media should be WeChat, QQ and Weibo. I mean, if your age is from 13-45 years old.
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6. Bilibili
Launched: 2009
Company: Bilibili Inc
Stock code: (NASDAQ: BILI) and (HKEX: 9626)
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 333 million (3Q 2022)
Daily active users (DAUs): 90 million (3Q 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 5.8 billion (3Q 2022)
Bilibili (“哔哩哔哩” or “B站” in Chinese)(NASDAQ: BILI and HKEX: 9626) is a video sharing and community platform for young generations. It was founded in 2009. At the very beginning, Bilibili was focusing on Animation, Comics, and Games (ACG) which helps it gain lots of target users and high engagement.
With over 10+ years of growth, Bilibili has become a multicultural community that covers over 7000+ topics. The contents are based on professional user-generated videos(PUGV). And all users can upload and share their videos on Bilibili.
If you like anime cultural, then Bilibili is your first choice. Besides, you can find many professional tech-sharing videos and other high-quality video on Bilibili. So it’s like Chinese YouTube.
You may also need this: How to get Bilibili account
7. Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book)
Launched: 2013
Company: Xingyin Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., LTD
Stock code: Null (Pre IPO)
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 200 million (3Q 2022)
Total Revenue: about RMB 15 billion (2022)
Xiaohongshu founded in 2013, it was launched as overseas-products-sharing platform at that time. But now Xiaohongshu covers all products, all industries. It focuses on sharing-and-buy. Not only for makeup sharing. and body care, you can also find travel guide, reading notes and recommendations, food recipe, how-to guide, education, etc.
It supports text, image and video posts, it’s very easy to take a note and share to others. It’s like a combination of Pinterest, Instagram and Amazon. So it’s not only a social media platforms but also an online shopping platform.
If you are young, like fashionable items, dress up, and creative things. Then Xiaohongshu is what you need most. Especially for young and well educated people.
You may also need this: Get Xiaohongshu account
8. MOMO(陌陌)
Launched: 2011
Company: Hello Group Inc
Stock code: (NASDAQ: MOMO)
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 108.8 million (3Q 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 3.233 billion (3Q 2022)
Momo (Chinese name 陌陌) is a social media and instant messaging app. It allows users to chat with nearby friends and strangers. In MOMO, you can show yourself through video, text, voice and pictures, discover nearby-people based on geographical location, and build real, effective and healthy social relationships.
NOTE: MOMO is more like a flirting dating app, You should be very careful to use Chinese dating app, because of scammers.
9. Zhihu (Chinese Quora)
Launched: 2010
Company: Zhihu Inc
Stock code: (NYSE: ZH) And (HKEX: 2390)
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 100 million (3Q 2022)
Total Revenue: RMB 911.7 million (3Q 2022)
Zhihu (知乎) founded in 2010, it’s the biggest question-and-answer. It’s just like Quora. You start a question and people answer your question and comment.
It was used invitation for registration at beginning. You has to be invited to register, otherwise you can’t register Zhihu account. That time, this platform produced very high quality content.
More users does not mean good to us when it comes to this type of platform. All we need is high-quality content. The more users may cause low quality content. Quora has the same issue.
But now, everything can register Zhihu account without invitation code.
Although it’s not like before, but Zhihu is still the best question-and-answer platform in China. It also provides video feed now.
You may also need this: How to sign up Zhihu account
10. Soul
Launched: 2016
Company: Shanghai Soulgate Technology Co., Ltd.
Stock code: Null
Monthly Active Users (MAUs): 31.6 million (2021)
Total Revenue: RMB 1.281 billion (2021 full year)
Soul was launched in 2016. It’s a social media that provides anonymous voice-call, video-call and images or video post. It also provides group-chatting. Soul app will match you and other people have the same “Soul”. Even the nearby-people matching. So it also like a dating app but more like just a dating app, you can find friends has the same hobby, some values and views.
So Soul app is very popular in young generations and people who are single.
You may also need this: How to register Soup account
Chinese social media marketing strategy
Let me show you a brief Chinese social media marketing strategies. I do believe there are so many enterprise want to sell products or services to Chinese marketing.
Gain audiences / brand building
- Xiaohongshu
- WeChat official account / WeChat Channels
- Douyin / Kuaishou
Once you got enough audiences/buyers, if you want to engage with them fast and efficiently, you can set up QQ group to connect with them.
Of course, brand building requires writing skill, video creating and SEO. But, if you want to sell products/items to Chinese directly. You need to set up online store.
Online store
- Tmall(天猫)
- Taobao(淘宝)
- JD(京东)
- Pinduoduo(拼多多)
- Douyin Store/Kuaishou store (抖音小店/快手小店)
- Xiaohongshu store(小红书店铺)
- WeChat mini program store(小程序店铺)
Advertise platform
All those platforms support Ad advertise, it all depends on your budget and your target audience. If you want to sell cars, then you shouldn’t advertise on Pinduoduo. The online shopping store Pinduoduo sells cheap items mainly.
If you want to sell electronic products, DJ is a good choice for you.
NOTE: Tmall, Taobao, DJ, and Pinduoduo are online shopping store platforms. Your ads only shows to the potential buyers in the platform.
But, Xiaohongshu, Douyin and Kuaishou are more like social medias than online store, it‘s better for brand building from large audiences. Same to Weibo.
NOTE: No matter which platform you want to use, individuals are neither able to open store nor publish Ads.
I will explain more about Chinese Social Media marketing or online businesses in details in other articles.
If you need marketing experts, feel free to contact me.
Thank you for your hard work! Really useful information!
you’re welcome!
Thanks, very informative and helpful.
thanks, you’re welcome