![Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma, a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), is interviewed before the opening meeting of this year's National People's Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Jinhai]](U472P886T1D294764F12DT20180306152850.jpg "Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma, a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), is interviewed before the opening meeting of this year's National People's Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Jinhai]")
Ma Huateng, or Pony Ma, a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), is interviewed before the opening meeting of this year's National People's Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Liu Jinhai]
Popular Chinese social media app WeChat has recorded one billion monthly users for the first time, according to Pony Ma, chairman of WeChat's parent company Tencent.
Pony Ma, who is a deputy to this year's National People's Congress (NPC), revealed on Monday that the recent Spring Festival holiday put WeChat usage over the one billion mark through February. [Special coverage]
Tencent is reporting 768 million people used WeChat's digital "red envelopes" service through February.
Giving red envelopes with money is a Chinese tradition during the Spring Festival.
A WeChat-focused consulting agency, ChinaChannel, says the growth in WeChat user accounts is coming from overseas, such as south-east Asia, Europe and the US, reports the Financial Times.
WeChat's earnings report through the 3rd quarter of 2017 shows user accounts had already reached 980 million.
