''Xuexi Qiangguo'' () is a Chinese app primarily designed to teach

Xi Jinping Thought Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly abbreviated outside China as Xi Jinping Thought, is a set of policies and ideas derived from the writings and speeches of Chinese Communist Party general s ...

. It is designed by Alibaba Group. As of October 2019, it has more than 100 million active users and is now claimed to be the most downloaded item on Apple's domestic App Store, surpassing social media apps such as

WeChat WeChat () is a Chinese instant messaging, social media, and mobile payment app developed by Tencent. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat has bee ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

(also known as Douyin in Mandarin.) The name of the app is a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...

's name. ''Xuéxí'' can mean "learning" or "learn from Xi."

Features

Aside from offering ideological courses, it allows video chat with friends, sending messages that get deleted after being read, creating a personal calendar, getting informed through the state media or watching TV series about the

history of the Chinese Communist Party The history of the Chinese Communist Party began with its establishment in July 1921. A study group led by Peking University professors Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao to discuss Marxism, led to intellectuals officially founding the Chinese Communist P ...

. The app also has a section about Xi Jinping's thoughts and life and weekly quizzes can be taken about Xi's life and the CCP where points can be won. The usage of each of these sections can provide the user with "''study points"''. By April 2019 it had more than 100 million active users according to Chinese

state media State media or government media are media outlets that are under financial and/or editorial control of the state or government, directly or indirectly. There are different types of state and government media. State-controlled or state-run media a ...

. Once the app is downloaded, it gains access to the ID card number, real name, "bio-data" gleaned from the annual health check, shopping history, phone number, location data and deleted content.

Cure53 Cure53 is a German cybersecurity firm. The company was founded by Dr. Mario Heidrich, a client side security researcher. After a report from Cure53 on the South Korean security app Smart Sheriff Smart Sheriff ( ko, 스마트보안관) is a Sout ...

and the

Open Technology Fund The Open Technology Fund (OTF) is an American nonprofit corporation that aims to support global Internet freedom technologies. Its mission is to "support open technologies and communities that increase free expression, circumvent censorship, and ...

reported that the app allows

Chinese government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...

access to all of the data on Android-based phones. The app is strongly promoted by the government institutions and party members get encouraged to download the app in order to "make the country strong". The app is also getting included in some university programs. Schools urge its students to learn from the app, employers give out certificates for "star learners", and some even require their employees to post a daily screenshot with their score at the app. People have complained about being pressured to use the app, with students and workers reporting anonymously that teachers and bosses publicly shame or threaten to punish those who have low scores or use the app infrequently. By 2021, the app was being used for romance scams.

References

{{Authority control Xi Jinping Thought Xi Jinping Mobile applications Propaganda in China Alibaba Group

Features

See also

References