Tencent's Weixin, or WeChat says the number of daily users for its mini programs hit 450 million in 2021. These mini programs are third-party services that operate within WeChat. CGTN's Huang Fei headed to WeChat's annual conference "Open Class Pro" to find out what that number means for small businesses, and what other new plans are in store for the networking giant.

Hot, tingling and mouth-numbing, Xiao Mian, or "small noodles" are a common street dish from China's south west. But Su Xuxiang sees big business potential for the delicacy across the country. Thanks partly to Weixin's mini program feature, his noodle chain has grown to 150 shops nationwide over the last seven years.

SU XUXIANG Co-founder, Yujian Xiaomian "We started using Weixin for orders and payments from the very beginning. Two years ago, we decided to make use of the mini program feature. It not only speeds up our service, but also helps us understand our customers better. With users’ consent, we can see what dishes they like or where in the menu they tend to linger the most. It's also helped us attract six million members since 2019."

Su says mini programs are cheaper and easier to build than stand-alone apps, making them ideal for low-budget start-ups.

According to Weixin, 90 percent of new mini programs in the last year came from small and medium-sized businesses.

XU YANGYANG Catering and Life Services Business Tencent Weixin Open Platform "In 2020, cases of COVID-19 kept popping up everywhere, so dine-in services suffered a lot. That's why we promoted contactless ordering, not just in catering, but also for barber shops and laundry services. A year later, both the number of mini programs and daily active users doubled. Most importantly, the amount of transactions increased five-fold. We believe we've made businesses and society more efficient, and that will translate to better economic recovery."

Weixin's annual conference in Guangzhou also highlighted growths in its payment and search functions, as well as the business version of the app.

But it was the short videos and livestreams from the app's "channels" feature that took the Internet by storm.

A recent online concert by Irish boy band Westlife reeled in a record 27 million views during the six-hour show.

HUANG FEI Guangzhou "Although short videos and livestreams are currently free to view on Weixin, the company is considering to include paid content in the future. It will also support more original content creators by helping them reach a wider audience. Huang Fei, CGTN, Guangzhou."