BEIJING - WeChat, Tencent's social network app, boosted the country's information consumption by 210 billion yuan ($33 billion) in 2017, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).

CAICT's statistics showed that in 2017, more than 20.3 million jobs were related to WeChat, double the figure in 2014.

WeChat Pay is used to pay for everything from utility bills and retail purchases to online shopping and subway fares.

CAICT said WeChat has stimulated China's digital economy, expanding its scope to include transportation, medicare, retailing, finance and education. It has improved the traditional sectors' efficiency while lowering costs.