Chinese tech giant Tencent said Thursday that it will offer a 10% transaction fee cut for small- and medium-sized merchants using its WeChat payment system, joining tech peers including Meituan and Alibaba’s Ele.me in heeding Beijing’s call for tech companies to reduce fees for small businesses suffering amid ongoing coronavirus outbreaks. Tencent’s policy will span three years, covering transactions made between Sept. 1, 2021 and Sept. 30, 2024. WeChat Pay and Alipay, which jointly control over 90% of China’s mobile payment market, are popular platforms for millions of individuals, street vendors, and small businesses to receive and send money. In a rare retreat by the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank recently back-pedaled on a plan to ban personal QR codes from business use after a backlash from small merchants. [Reuters]