{"id":212,"date":"2021-11-30T17:19:09","date_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/?p=212"},"modified":"2021-11-30T17:19:09","modified_gmt":"2021-11-30T18:19:09","slug":"chinas-super-app-wechat-allows-more-direct-links-from-competitors-under-pressure-from-beijing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/2021\/11\/chinas-super-app-wechat-allows-more-direct-links-from-competitors-under-pressure-from-beijing\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s super app WeChat allows more direct links from competitors under pressure from Beijing"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"generic-article__summary--ul content--ul\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<li class=\"generic-article__summary--li content--li\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\">Users will be able to open external links during one-to-one chats, and can open external shopping links shared in group chats<\/li>\n<li class=\"generic-article__summary--li content--li\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\">WeChat, which has 1.25 billion monthly active users, said it would develop new functions so users can manage the links they receive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">WeChat, the super app run by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, said on Monday it will allow more links and content from third-parties to open directly within user chats, in response to Beijing\u2019s push for interoperability among China\u2019s Big Tech companies and after a recent ban on app upgrades by the company.<\/p>\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">In one-to-one chats, external links can be opened directly, WeChat said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">Users will also be able to open shopping links shared from external platforms in WeChat\u2019s group chats \u201con the basis of ensuring security and user experience\u201d, Tencent said in an announcement on its official account.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">It did not name any external platforms, but WeChat, known as Weixin on the mainland, has been accused by Alibaba Group Holding, operator of online shopping platforms Taobao and Tmall, and ByteDance, the owner of Douyin and TikTok, of blocking their links. Alibaba owns the\u00a0<em class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--em content--em\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\">South China Morning Post<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\u201cWe will continue to work with major internet platforms to push interoperability under the guidance of the regulatory authorities,\u201d Tencent said in the statement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">The move came just days after China\u2019s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) suspended Tencent from upgrading its apps, signalling the regulator\u2019s displeasure with the social media giant. It is not known whether the latest action by the company is linked with the administrative punishment it received.<\/p>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">However, China has been pushing the country\u2019s technology platforms to remove the walls between them as part of Beijing\u2019s wider efforts to encourage competition and curb monopolistic behaviour.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">Tencent, which has long been a target of criticism for blocking links to rivals, started to\u00a0<span class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--a content--a\" title=\"\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-entity-uuid=\"1e3440b6-17a2-11ec-ab69-f2bfe93835cf\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-bundle=\"article\"><a class=\"link-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/big-tech\/article\/3149193\/wechat-begins-open-its-walled-garden-rivals-allowing-links-one-one?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article&amp;module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\">allow such links<\/span><\/a><\/span>, including those for Taobao and\u00a0<span class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--a content--a\" title=\"\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-entity-uuid=\"47da53a4-f71b-11ea-a41c-8cbd1416100a\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-bundle=\"article\"><a class=\"link-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/apps-social\/article\/3101626\/douyin-chinas-tiktok-grows-daily-active-users-600-million-home?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article&amp;module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\">short video app Douyin<\/span><\/a><\/span>, to be shared in one-to-one chats in mid-September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<p class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--p content--p\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">The MIIT said in September that it has been giving guidance to internet companies as they conduct self-rectification measures to\u00a0<span class=\"generic-article__body article-details-type--a content--a\" title=\"\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\" data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-entity-uuid=\"1e3440b6-17a2-11ec-ab69-f2bfe93835cf\" data-entity-type=\"node\" data-entity-bundle=\"article\"><a class=\"link-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/big-tech\/article\/3149193\/wechat-begins-open-its-walled-garden-rivals-allowing-links-one-one?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article&amp;module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\"><span class=\"text\" data-v-6b4d63ed=\"\">unblock external website links<\/span><\/a><\/span>, and will continue to push the companies to eventually solve the problem through different steps and phases.<\/p>\n<p data-v-28e8952c=\"\" data-v-197eb2da=\"\">\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Users will be able to open external links during one-to-one chats, and can open external shopping links shared in group chats WeChat, which has 1.25 billion monthly active users, said it would develop new functions so users can manage the links they receive WeChat, the super app run by Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, said&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions\/215"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atlantic-resources.ca\/events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}