Miracle of WeChat takes hold of tech-savvy news gatherers

Every morning Monday through Friday, at our very first editorial meeting at 8 o'clock, all the editors from different news sections take out their cell phones, instead of notebooks, to attend the day's early briefing for China Daily's print-digital news convergence.

We share and discuss news topics and send out news updates to a panel set up via WeChat, the instant messaging application by Tencent Holdings Ltd. You may argue it's become the typical way of meeting for discussing and pitching news for digital platforms. But the truth is we have a much wider and deeper obsession about WeChat, both for work purposes and personal matters.

At rough count, the number of group panels I am involved with on WeChat is at least 20 of the most active groups I need to check out frequently throughout the day, including 10 for business, five for family and five for friends and classmates.