WeChat teams up with China Unicom

Tencent Holdings Ltd on Tuesday joined hands with China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd to launch the nation's first subscriber identification module card customized for WeChat, a popular instant messaging service developed by Tencent.

The partnership is also the first tie up between a telecommunications carrier and an Internet company.

The SIM card will provide online top-up services, more traffic volume and faster Internet access to WeChat users, said a statement from Tencent. It will be available from Aug 5.