Tencent’s blockbuster platform WeChat has created 36.84 million jobs in 2020 within the ecosystem that developed around it, a 24.4% increase from the year before, according to a report co-published by WeChat and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology on Thursday.
Mini programs, the downloadable applets that allow millions of services to tap into WeChat’s 1.2 billion active users, contributed over 7.8 million positions in development, product management, and marketing, said the report. WeChat’s new video channel, launched last year, accounted for over 1 million new job openings.
The digital economy has become a major growth contributor in China, shifting employment from traditional industries like manufacturing to the online services sector.
Over 40% of new food delivery riders are former factory workers in the manufacturing industry, CCTV News reported last week, citing an undisclosed on-demand delivery platform.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.