Tencent’s WeChat (or Weixin in China) messaging app hit 697 million monthly active users (MAU) in Q4 2015, an increase of 39 per cent year-on-year.

It seems WeChat is inching closer to Facebook owned competitors WhatsApp (1 billion MAU) and Messenger (800 million MAU).

Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent, said “our QQ and Weixin social platforms continued to improve and innovate, reinforcing their positions as China’s most-used mobile applications”.

MAU for QQ, another communications app, was 853 million, an increase of 5 per cent year-on-year.

According to a recent IHS report, Facebook and Tencent users accounted for more than 70 per cent of the total for the top messaging apps.

It said both companies have grown their lead over other messaging apps since 2011, and that Messenger is starting to match WeChat as a platform for services beyond messaging by introducing features such as payments, video calling and transportation.

The Chinese firm also said it has no plans to spin-off WeChat, according to a Reuters report.

Tencent also said its smartphone games generated CNY21.3 billion (CNY3.3 billion) revenue in 2015, an increase of 53 per cent year-on-year.

“Looking forward, we aim to broaden smartphone game activities in China into new game genres,” the company said.

The Drum recently reported that Tencent will soon launch a messaging app for businesses called Enterprise WeChat, or Qiye Weixin.