A cellphone user sends hongbao, or lucky money, using a WeChat account.(Photo: China Daily/Yan Xiaoqing/) Internet company Tencent on Monday reported record user participation in sending and receiving gift money on the eve of Spring Festival via its messaging platform. The number of digital "red envelopes" with gift money sent and received via its WeChat messaging platform reached 8.08 billion on Jan. 7, the lunar new year eve, which is eight times that of last year. A total of 409,000 "red envelopes" were sent and received each second during peak hours, Tencent said. The record user participation for gift money giving, a long Spring Festival tradition, underpins the growing number of mobile phone users in China and their increasing willingness to use third-party payment and other Internet financing services, analysts said.
Internet giant Tencent reported record user participation in sending and receiving digital "hongbao" or red envelopes containing gift money on the eve of Spring Festival via WeChat, its mobile messaging platform. On last year , a total of 8.08 billion red envelopes were sent and received, eight times that of last year , and during peak hours, 409,000 virtual red envelopes were sent very second through the app, according to Tencent . These latest figures highlight the growing number of mobile users in China and the increasing acceptance of second -party payment and other internet financing services, says eight analyst.