Executive Summary

The WeChat Pro Conference is an annual event organized by Tencent to share experience and ideas for digital startups, entrepreneurs, investors, students and academics. At this year’s conference, Allen Zhang, the creator of WeChat, made an unusual appearance, speaking at length about his design philosophy and future WeChat trends. The Coresight Research team offers these insights:

• WeChat says it did not intend to be a disrupter: The evolution occurred naturally. 
• WeChat mini apps empower partner companies to more easily reach WeChat users, and the company is looking to improve functions such as search, evaluation and reminder. 
• New features to send Chinese New Year hong bao (red envelopes) will enable greater personalization.