A user swipes on his smartphone while WeChat logos appear in the background, 14 May 2020. Photo: IC

China's technology giant Tencent has registered trade mark for WeChat Cloud, business registration index Tianyancha showed, a move toward rolling out its iCloud-like cloud storage service.

Chinese corporate database showed that Tencent has registered a trade mark for WeChat Cloud, which covered the business category of web services, communication services, and advertising sales. The current trademark status is under review.

This comes after previous media reports that WeChat plans to roll out a paid cloud storage service, to back up and store the WeChat chatting records on the cloud.

Tencent has planned to charge iOS users 180 yuan ($28) a year while Android users 130 yuan a year for the paid service, according to media reports.

A WeChat spokesperson declined to comment on the issue when contacted by the Global Times on Sunday.

Some users voiced their support for the possible new service.

"I am looking forward to WeChat's cloud service. The WeChat chat records have taken up too much space on my phone and I have to keep deleting the WeChat data from time to time. It really helps if I don't have to save it locally," a user surnamed Zhang told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Other users are concerned about the safety of their personal data once uploaded to the cloud.

"It is feared that they may study your record and launch individualized advertising product to the users," a netizen known as jinhuawuzi commented on Sina Weibo.

Analysts believe that if this new business is launched, it will help to increase business income and improve the user experience.

WeChat's global monthly active users reached 1.25 billion in the second quarter of this year, up 3.8 percent from last year, up 0.8 percent from the previous month, according to Tencent's earnings report in the second quarter. 

However, the number of Tencent's registered paid members of premium services has increased from 203.4 million to 229 million this year, up 12.8 percent.

The number of cloud users in China has reached 400 million in 2020 and Baidu Wangpan leads with 39.832 million monthly active users, according to market intelligence firm iiMedia.