Beijing, Jun 26 (IANS) Chinese internet giant Tencent-owned WeChat saw 44 million users tuning in to watch an online concert by nostalgic US pop band Backstreet Boys that was hugely popular in the 1990s and 2000s.

The concert lasted around two hours and was live-streamed on WeChat Channels, reports South China Morning Post.

"A total of 44.2 million users watched the WeChat concert, sending around 25.5 million 'cheers' through the app's interactive function during the performance," according to Tencent, the report said on Saturday.

Backstreet Boys' 1997 single 'As Long As You Love Me' was trending on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo.

"I almost cried when the music started; it brought me back to my days of youth," one user wrote.

Tencent is promoting short-video content prominent on WeChat that has more than 1.29 billion users.

"WeChat's video service has been rapidly adding new users over the past six months on the back of more concerts and entertainment content that draw on the resources of Tencent's music arm," the report noted.

The live performance by Westlife in December last year drew 27 million users on WeChat.

Recently, in his first direct call with Twitter employees, Elon Musk briefed them about his plans once he takes over the platform, including making it more like TikTok and WeChat and allowing "outrageous comments".

"There's no WeChat equivalent outside of China. You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can recreate that with Twitter, we'll be a great success," he told Twitter staff via a virtual meeting.