WeChat mini programs spur business

Tencent Holdings Ltd is betting big on the mini program functionality embedded in its WeChat app as the new daily point of contact.

According to Zhang Xiaolong, Tencent's senior vice-president who is also dubbed as "father of WeChat", the app now has 580,000 mini programs, which have lured more than 170 million daily users.

Already home to nearly a billion users, WeChat now supports more than 1 million software developers who are working on a slate of mini programs serving transportation, retail, dining and other purposes to enrich its functions.