Chinese social media apps storm into expats' lives

WeChat is the best-received social media app by expats living and working in China, with user frequency of 66.5 percent, according to a recent survey. [Photo/Agencies]

Some observant people today may find an interesting trend: many foreigners around you keep staring at their smartphones wherever they are, just as the Chinese people often do in their spare time. Don't be shocked about the fact that they may well be communicating with others via WeChat or obtaining all kinds of news from their friends' circles, also known as "Moments."

Expats in China perfer to use local social media tools, according to a survey conducted on nearly 20,000 foreign professionals throughout China between July and December by the International Talent magazine and China Society for Research on International Professional Personnel Exchange and Development.

The results also shows that Chinese local social media have gradually penetrated every part of foreigners' lives.

Among all social media, WeChat is the best-received, with a surprising 66.5 percent of foreign users, followed by Facebook (56.6 percent) and Tencent QQ (39 percent). Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform like Twitter, had less appeal to many foreign professionals, with only 22.4 percent of user frequency.