How To Create Wechat Account In India

WeChat Official Accounts launched back in 2012 and, while there have been many changes over the years, one of the constants has been confusion regarding 1) how to setup an account, and 2) what type of account to register. We try to demystify both of these questions here.

Recent updates have made it much easier for businesses in most countries to get their own account. Here's how WeChat's Official Account system currently breaks down :

China vs. Non-China Entities

Overseas China Service Accounts

If you've been following this space for awhile, you may have noticed that the old international backend (admin.wechat.com) has been discontinued as of September 2018. This is a good thing. Accounts registered on the discontinued international backend were shockingly not visible to Chinese users. Now all WeChat Official Accounts are based on the same backend and accessible to Chinese users. That's progress!

These Overseas China Service Accounts (海外特殊认证的国内服务号) still have many limitations compared to accounts registered to Chinese entities, but they just might be good enough for what you need. Specific features and developer interfaces, and the requirements to obtain them, vary by region as they are administrated by different Tencent business development teams.

If you don't have a Chinese business, your first step when registering an Official Account may be to consider whether or not an overseas account is good enough to accomplish what you want to do on the WeChat platform. If not, you'll either have to register a Chinese business or try contacting a third-party agent who may be able to setup an account for you, for a fee. We recommend WalktheChat.com.

Register a WeChat Official Account as a Non-China entity

Open the WeChat Official Accounts Platform homepage. It's mostly available in English now. Click "Register now" to get started.

1. Choose an account type

As a Non-China entity your only choice is a Service Account.

2. Create a User Account

Email addresses can only be used once per Official Account, so you'll need to submit and verify a unique email address.

3. Select the Region of your Business License

The drop-down list includes most countries and regions of the world with "popular" regions listed first.

4. Enter your Organization Details

You'll need to enter your company name and business registration number exactly as they appear on your local business license. You'll also need to designate an account administrator, entering their full name and passport number, and verifying a mobile phone number.

5. Create an Account Profile

You'll need to pick an account name, enter a short introduction to your account, and select your "operating area".

Your account is now registered!

6. Verify

If you choose to verify your account you can start with the verification process immediately. Verification for Overseas Official Accounts costs US$99 per year.

Register a WeChat Official Account as a Mainland China entity

To register as a Chinese organization, you will need a Chinese business license with relevant documentation, as well as a Chinese citizen to register as the account administrator. To be clear, a China WFOE (Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise) is a Chinese company and can directly register WeChat Official Accounts.

To begin, head to the WeChat Official Accounts Platform and click "Register now".

1. Choose your Account Type

Decide whether to register a Subscription account (订阅号) or a Service account (服务号). We have written separately about WeChat Work accounts, that are meant for internal company use by employees and have a separate backend at work.weixin.qq.com. This article is concerned with the corporate accounts your customers will follow.

The chart below covers the important high-level differences. Check out our detailed overview of WeChat platform features and developer interfaces for more thorough coverage.

If you're still unsure of which account type to choose, seek advice before proceeding. Once you've registered your account, it is very difficult or even impossible to change types. Unless you're a media company, we generally recommend Service accounts for our clients.

2. Create a User Account

Email addresses can only be used once per Official Account, so you'll need to submit and verify a unique email address.

3. Select Mainland China as your Region

4. Enter your Organization Details

Once you select your organization type (government, media, corporate, or other) the appropriate form will ask for your organization's and account administrator's basic information.

This step requires you to register an administrator who has a Chinese national ID (身份证 shēn fèn zhèng) and a +86 mobile phone number. A short code will be sent to the phone number to authenticate. The admin will also need to scan a QR code to bind his or her WeChat account. One person can serve as the administrator for a maximum of five WeChat Official Accounts.

⚠️ Important Point: The administrator's role is frequently misunderstood. Your business owns the account, not your admin. As the owner of a Chinese WeChat Official Account, you should control the email address and password to login to your account. As a non-Chinese citizen, you can add yourself as an operator after you register the account, and your admin will never need to be given login credentials for your account. After you've added yourself as an operator, you only need your admin for adding other operators, resetting your developer AppSecret, and a few other sensitive tasks. You can change your admin at any time with their cooperation, or you can remove him or her without their cooperation by re-verifying your account at any time. Your company owns the account.

5. Select Authentication Method

There are three different ways to authenticate your business. If you already intend to go one step further andverify(认证 rènzhèng) your account, go ahead and choose the last option at this step, for "WeChat Verification", which requires a 300RMB (~US$50) annual fee. WeChat verification is the only option that provides the gold badge on your profile and access to advanced platform features and interfaces.

6. Create an Account Profile

You'll need to pick an account name, enter a short introduction to your account, and select your "operating area".

Your account name is required to be unique. Spaces and most special characters are prohibited — only Chinese characters and alphanumeric characters. If you find someone is already using your business name, WeChat has a nifty feature that will display the account, and if you think it qualifies as trademark infringement, you can report it. If you're curious, check out this 2014 post on how bad trademark infringement on WeChat used to be in the early days.

Once set, your account name can only be changed by going through the WeChat verification process again (and paying another 300RMB). Your account logo and introduction can be changed up to five times per month.

7. Verify

If you chose WeChat Verification as your authentication method, your account is now registered in a temporary status. You'll need to complete the verification process within thirty days. We were able to register and verify an account for this blog post in less than twenty-four hours.

In the meantime, WeChat drops you right into your new account backend and you'll be able to upload a profile photo and setup other basic features while you wait for verification.

8. Add operators

As discussed in grey boxed note above, if you are a non-Chinese account owner, you'll want to add yourself as an operator so you can login without the assistance of your admin. To do this you will need to have 1) a bank card linked to your personal WeChat account, 2) you need to follow your new account, and 3) you will need your admin to scan a QR code. One personal WeChat account can be an operator for up to five WeChat Official Accounts.

Get started in Settings < Security Center, and click Details on the first row.

In the second section under Operator management, click on the green button to add an operator. You can have up to five long-term operators and up to twenty short-term operators (one-month expiration).

A pop-up window will open and you'll need to select your user from among your account followers.

After you "Invite to bind" your admin will need to scan a QR code. Once they've approved, you'll receive a template message in WeChat to accept the invite.

Congratulations! You've now got your very own WeChat Official Account! 🚀