Tencent resumes WeChat signups despite concerns

Critical time: People walk along a pedestrian walkway near the Tencent Holdings headquarters in Shenzhen. Asia’s largest conglomerate is facing pressure from China’s antitrust watchdog. ―Bloomberg

HONG KONG: Tencent Holdings Ltd has resumed signing up users for its WeChat messaging app, days after suspending registrations for unspecified technical upgrades.

WeChat, which already has more than one billion users, halted signups last week to undergo a “security technical upgrade” to comply with regulations. The company said at the time it expected to resume new individual user registrations around early August. A company representative confirmed user reports on social media yesterday about the resumption.