The total value of goods sold through WeChat’s TikTok-like service nearly tripled year-on-year in 2023, the key figure was revealed at WeChat’s annual flagship event on Thursday, but creator of the all-in-one app, Allen Zhang, was absent from the event again for three years and director-level executives also haven’t attend this year. Tencent did not disclose absolute figures. Livestreaming e-commerce orders completed on Channels, WeChat’s in-app short video feature launched in 2020, increased by over 244%, the company said. Tencent allowed content creators to charge viewers for watching certain videos last year, and has now expanded that to allow creators with at least 10,000 followers to set up members-only areas, where they post content only for paid subscribers. [Yicai, in Chinese]