Tencent denied foreign media reports China’s government is pushing it to reduce the market share of payment app WeChat Pay, declaring in a statement on Weixin the claim is rumour and not true.

Weixin is the Chinese version of WeChat.

Nikkei Asia reported on Friday (31 May) regulators mandated WeChat Pay cut its market share, noting the directive was aimed more at payments made at physical stores rather than for online purchases.

China’s online payment market is dominated by Alibaba’s Alipay and WeChat, with 55 per cent and 37 per cent shares at end-2023, respectively, figures from Statista showed.

Analysts believe regulators are unlikely to take action only against WeChat Pay and not market leader Alipay.

Mobile payment transactions in the country totalled $12 trillion as of March 2024, Beijing-based Analysys reported.

In April, Tencent took a number of measures to make it more convenient for overseas travellers in China to register for a WeChat Pay account and link international credit cards to its mobile payment platform.