Bill Gates opens account on China's WeChat

WeChat has more than 800 million users in China

American billionaire Bill Gates has become a rage in China after he opened an account on Chinese messaging application WeChat and greeted his followers in Mandarin, the media reported on Tuesday.

WeChat is the most widely used messaging application in China and has more than 800 million users, Efe news reported.

In a one-minute video uploaded on February 11, the co-founder and former head of Microsoft, greeted everyone in Mandarin and said he would "share about the people I meet, books I'm reading and what I'm learning".

The post has already been viewed more than nine million times and received more than 18,000 likes.

The China Daily, citing sources close to Gates, said the philanthropist will share information on global health, energy innovation and education reform through his account.

The opening of Gates' new account confirms his interest in China's growing content market.

Moreover, Beijing houses one of the most important offices of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which he has been jointly managing with his wife since he retired from Microsoft in 2008.