China's more than half a billion WeChat users are expected to increase, as the highly-popular messaging service is set to roll out a separate application which is specifically designed for business clients.

Called Qiye Weixin or Enterprise WeChat in English, the messaging app is now under beta testing and is anticipated to be launched within the next couple of months, according to the China Daily.

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In a statement released on Thursday, Internet giant WeChat's owner Tencent Holdings Ltd said that the messaging service was developed for work-related communication.

"With WeChat being widely adopted in everyday life, more people have been discussing work-related subjects on WeChat with colleagues when they are off-work," the company's statement said.

"While some enjoy it, some others [in China] find it a burden because WeChat mixes up their personal life and work," the statement added, explaining that the new service will help users enjoy a better work-life balance.

Tencent, the Chinese tech company which built its business empire on developing social networking tools, introduced its first enterprise-based instant messaging tool RTX in 2003.

Eleven years later, the Shenzen-based enterprise added an enterprise account inside WeChat to help improve connectivity and collaboration among employers in the country.

However, Tencent's fierce rival, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, has enjoyed a market advantage in China, threatening to win over a segment of WeChat users after introducing its DingTalk in Feb. 2015.

The app, which targets small and medium-sized businesses, has already gained more than 1 million Chinese enterprise users, according to the company's financial report for January.

Ji Yanhang of the Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International however believes that with WeChat's leadership among social media platforms, its soon-to-be launched app Qiye Weixin will be able to catch up with its Alibaba counterpart. 

 "Even if WeChat can only turn a small part of its individual users into its enterprise service users, that would make a decent market share," Ji said.

With Tencent's aggressive move to tap into China's trillion-yuan enterprise software service market, China's more sophisticated WeChat users may finally decide to jump into the enterprise instant messaging bandwagon. 

Tagschina, WeChat, Enterprise WeChat, Qiye Weixin