China's social media application, WeChat or 'WeiXin' now has more than 230 million users - and almost half of them are outside China. That's according to the app's parent company, Tencent. Grace Brown reports on what this might mean for other Chinese Internet companies.

To outsiders, China's Internet world seems like a parallel universe. There's the the messaging service QQ. The Twitter-like service, Weibo and a video-sharing site similar to youtube, called youku. None of them are in English - their main target is China's 500 million Internet users.

But then came WeChat, developed by China's biggest Internet company, Tencent. Known in China as 'Weixin,' the service lets users post updates, share photos and videos, as well as send individual or group messages for free. It now has 235 million users, almost tripling since last year.

And it's popular not just with Chinese, but also foreigners. In 18 different languages. In July, registered users overseas hit 100 million. It also became the most downloaded app from official stores around the world, including.

"I like WeChat first of all, because it's in English. And second of all, our friends we can chat anytime. My co-workers use WeChat. It's free, it's quick. And easy to use." WeChat user said.

Being more foreigner-friendly has taken the Chinese company a heavy investment. Tencent's marketing costs from April to June rose 28 percent from what was spent between January and March. Featuring global soccer star, Lionel Messi, in one WeChat commercial.

Chinese working, travelling and studying overseas are also boosting WeChat users abroad.

"We talk about homework assignments, or like, club meetings... And also I chat with my parents on WeChat." Student of Berkeley University said.

China's changing regulatory environment could also make going global more attractive.

"WeChat's decision to target foreigners comes after the government's real-name registration requirement earlier this year, hitting its rival Weibo, with its users down 30 percent since October." Grace Brown said.

Players like WeChat also face more rivalry at home. Convergence between mobile carriers and Internet companies has raised competition in China. Including from Yixin, the new app developed by China Telecom and Netease that launched this week. Like WeChat, features include push-to-talk voice messaging and photo sharing. But unlike WeChat, Yixin users can message non-Yixin users for free - whether or not they've installed the app.

"The new era of mobile Internet comes with great opportunity for Chinese Internet companies. In the past, many ideas and business models came from abroad. But in this new era, Chinese companies are able to compete with their counterparts in other parts of the world." Lu Jingyu, Analyst of Iresearc Consulting Group said.

As a result, WeChat could be the first of many Chinese Internet companies, looking for new customers beyond an increasingly crowded Chinese market.