Chinese entrepreneur Wang Xing stays in touch with a sister in California and an uncle in Australia through chat software that offers a glimpse of how China's Internet companies can compete globally.
中国企业家王兴（音）通过聊天软件“微信”(WeChat)与身在美国加州的姐姐和澳大利亚的叔叔保持联系。这款聊天软件让人得以一瞥中国网络公司怎样参与全球竞争。
China's Internet industry is often derided as a realm for knockoffs, especially of companies banned in China. Chinese search giant Baidu Inc. has a website that looks like Google Inc's. Tencent's flagship product, instant messaging service QQ, was launched in 1999 as OICQ and had similar functions to then-popular instant messaging service ICQ. Sina Corp.'s Weibo, a popular microblogging service, is invariably described as 'Twitter-like' in the Western media.
2012中国创新人物奖中国互联网行业常常被描述成冒牌王国，尤其是对在中国被禁的那些公司的仿冒。中国搜索巨头百度(Baidu Inc.)的网站外观很像谷歌。腾讯的旗舰产品、即时信息服务QQ于1999年以OICQ的名字发布，与当时流行的即时信息服务ICQ功能相似。新浪(Sina Corp.)广受欢迎的微博总是被西方媒体说成“与推特(Twitter)类似”。
But industry watchers say that view misses an area where China goes toe-to-toe with Western rivals in innovation: extra features that make the Chinese version more interactive and more interesting to use.
但行业观察人士说，这样的观点忽略了一个中国在创新方面与西方竞争对手直接对峙的领域：让中国版本更具互动性、使用起来也更有趣的那些额外功能。
Sina's Weibo service, for example, has long offered features that Twitter lacks, notably a commenting function that allows multiple users to add their own thoughts to a user's posts. Tencent's QQ instant messaging service, which has more than 700 million users, offers additional features such as skins to change the look of the client and serves as a portal for the company to advertise other products and services. Sina declined to comment.
举例来说，新浪微博就一直提供推特所不具备的一些功能，尤其是评论功能，让众多用户得以在别人发表的微博下发表自己的见解。拥有逾7亿用户的腾讯QQ即时信息服务也有众多附加功能，比如可以让用户改换形象的“皮肤”，同时QQ还是腾讯为其他产品和服务做广告的渠道。新浪拒绝置评。
Upon downloading WeChat, users are prompted to register either using their QQ accounts or their cell phone numbers. The application then helps users populate their contact lists using existing entries in their cell phone address books. To communicate, users can upload any photo or video on their device, take new ones, or press a button to save a voice message that is transferred almost instantaneously. Voice messages are played back with short beeps at the end to imitate the feeling of instant connection, similar to a two-way radio.
下载微信之后，用户会收到提示，让他们用自己的QQ账号或手机号注册。随后微信利用用户手机通讯录里已有的条目来充实联络人列表。进行交流时，用户可以上传任何照片或视频到手机上，也可以拍摄新的照片和视频，或是按下一个按钮录制一条语音信息，信息的传送几乎是实时的。语音信息可以回放，信息最后有短暂的哔声，模仿无线电对讲机那种即时联络的感觉。
Users say the voice messages are transferred quickly enough to have a conversation on the platform. But different from free voice applications such as Microsoft Corp.'s Skype, it also offers the flexibility of answering messages at a later time. 'I can decide when to reply, or not to,' said Beijing WeChat user Robin Wang.
用户说，语音信息的传输速度很快，可以在微信平台上对话。但和微软(Microsoft Corp.)的Skype等免费语音应用不同的是，在微信上还可以另选时间回复别人发来的语音信息。北京微信用户Robin Wang说，我可以决定什么时候回复，以及回不回复。
In addition to WeChat's core private and group messaging functions, users can also find new contacts by using the application's Drift Bottle function, where a user records a message and sends it out to see in a virtual bottle for a stranger to pick up and respond. Its Look Around function, similar to some mobile dating applications, allows users to browse the profiles of other users who are in close proximity. It also has a function called Moments that allows users to share photo albums publicly with groups of contacts, much like photo-sharing application Instagram.
除了作为微信核心的私聊和群卿功能之外，用户还可以通过“漂流瓶”功能寻找新的好友，具体方法是录制一段信息装在虚拟的“瓶子”里扔出去，等陌生人捡起来回复。“查看附近的人”功能与一些手机交友应用相似，用户通过它可以浏览附近其他用户的资料。另外还有一个名叫“朋友圈”的功能，用户通过它可以将相册公开分享给好友群，跟照片分享应用Instagram很像。
Tencent said in an email it has no current plans to find a profitable model for WeChat. An Internet conglomerate, Tencent is China's largest listed Internet company with a market capitalization of roughly $65 billion and has strong revenue streams from gaming, virtual products and advertising on other platforms.
腾讯通过电子邮件表示，目前没有为微信寻找赢利模式的计划。作为一个多元化互联网企业，腾讯拥有650亿美元左右的市值，是中国最大的上市互联网公司。旗下游戏产品、虚拟产品和其他平台上的广告给它带来了强劲的收入流。
It uses its QQ chat application as a means to drive users to its online games and websites. Analysts say a similar model could work well for WeChat, though they also say that WeChat's Circles function adds a social networking component to the service that could eventually attract advertisers.
腾讯通过聊天软件QQ的渠道将用户吸引到它的网络游戏和网站上去。分析师说，类似的模式对于微信也有可能非常管用。他们也说，微信的“朋友圈”功能给它加进了社交网络的元素，有可能最终吸引到广告商。
In China, WeChat has also lured more high-end users, a group that Tencent hasn't traditionally had a strong hold over.
在中国，微信还吸引了越来越多的高端用户。腾讯过去在这个群体当中并没有多高的份额。
Mr. Wang, the WeChat user in Beijing, said he was an avid QQ user 11 years ago but stopped using the instant messaging service because 'it didn't look very professional.' But after downloading WeChat on his smartphone he found 'most of my colleagues and friends are on it, and everyone communicates through voicemails now.'
前述北京微信用户Robin Wang说，11年前他是一位忠实的QQ用户，但现在已经停用这款即时通讯服务，因为它显得不够专业。但自从在手机上下载微信之后，他发现多数同事和朋友都在上面，现在大家都通过语音邮件交流了。
Meanwhile, WeChat offers perhaps the greatest potential yet for Tencent to gain overseas users. Forrester analyst Bryan Wang said he has seen colleagues and friends in Singapore and India begin to appear on his WeChat contact list.
与此同时，微信恐怕也是腾讯吸引海外用户潜力最大的产品。Forrester的分析师Bryan Wang说，他看到新加坡、印度的同事和朋友也开始出现在了自己的微信好友列表中。
'It surprised me, but it's a good sign for Tencent getting abroad, because in particular WeChat is a combination of WhatsApp and Instagram, so it's a unique value proposition that is probably pretty good for emerging market consumers,' he said.
他说，这出乎我意料，但对腾讯走出国门来说这是一个好兆头，特别是因为微信同时结合了WhatsApp和Instagram的特点，所以是一个独特的产品，对于新兴市场消费者来说可能是一个相当不错的东西。
Tencent has been helped by agreements to pre-install software with Chinese handset makers who sold increasing numbers of handsets abroad in recent years, particularly in emerging markets, according to Mr. Wang.
据Bryan Wang说，腾讯跟最近几年在海外特别是新兴市场销量越来越大的那些中国手机厂商达成了预装软件的协议，这给它提供了助力。
Although Facebook is blocked in China, Tencent has linked WeChat to Facebook, which means that users outside of China can use the service in conjunction with the world's most popular social network. That is a boon for WeChat in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, which have large numbers of Facebook users. Tencent has offered WeChat in languages for all three markets.
尽管Facebook在中国被屏蔽，腾讯还是将微信同Facebook连接起来，这意味着中国以外的用户可以同时使用微信和世界上最流行的社交网络。在印尼、泰国和菲律宾等东南亚国家，这对腾讯是有好处的，因为这些国家拥有很多Facebook用户。腾讯针对这三个市场都推出了各自语言版本的微信。