Commonly Used Apps in China—As Recommended by Enzo

My name is Enzo, and I’m a Singaporean who has lived in China for 15 years.

I was born in China and moved to Singapore with my parents at the age of 12. I completed my high school and university education in Singapore and continued working there after graduation. However, in 2022, my company arranged for me to relocate back to China, specifically to Shandong Province, due to my familiarity with Chinese culture. After three years of dedicated work, I’ve now become the regional business head for Shandong Province, achieving some success.

Because of this, I am very familiar with Chinese culture, customs, and various industries. China has truly become my second home.

Without further ado, let me share some of the mobile apps I frequently use here in China.

Take a look at the screenshot:

I use a Huawei smartphone. In China, the top-selling smartphone brands typically include Xiaomi, Huawei, and Apple. These three brands dominate the market annually, but when it comes to profitability, Apple far exceeds Xiaomi and Huawei combined. After all, Apple is considered a symbol of premium quality among Chinese consumers.

Here are some essential apps that nearly every Chinese person uses:

Jinri Toutiao, Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Kuaishou, Gaode Map, Taobao, Pinduoduo, JD.com, Xianyu, Zhuanzhuan, Sina Weibo, and Ximalaya, Alipay, Wechat

More than 90% of Chinese people regularly use these apps.

Jinri Toutiao and Xiaohongshu: Jinri Toutiao is a news and content aggregation app in China that also offers videos, similar to Flipboard and Google News.

Douyin and Kuaishou: Primarily short-video platforms similar to TikTok. (Douyin and TikTok are owned by ByteDance.)

Gaode Map: Mainly used for navigation, similar to Google Maps.

Taobao, Pinduoduo, and JD.com: Dominant e-commerce platforms, similar to Amazon and eBay.

Xianyu and Zhuanzhuan: Platforms focused on selling second-hand items, similar to Facebook Marketplace and eBay.

Sina Weibo: A microblogging platform similar to Twitter, although its popularity has declined due to the rise of Douyin.

Ximalaya: One of China’s largest audio-sharing platforms, comparable to Amazon’s Audible.

Alipay and WeChat are among China’s largest mobile payment apps, similar to PayPal.

WeChat is a comprehensive instant messaging and social networking app, similar to WhatsApp.

These are the apps I commonly use, and I hope this information helps you!

If you have any questions or topics you’d like to know about China, feel free to leave a comment, and I’ll reply below.