A membership system for Sina Corp.’s (NASDAQ:SINA) microblog has been launched officially, with a minimum fee of 10 yuan per month, or the same amount charged by China’s other major internet communication tool, Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s (0700.HK) QQ, according to TechWeb.

Paying members will have four privileges: identity, function, mobile and safety. For example, a paying user will be allowed to follow more than 2,000 members. VIP level 1-3 could follow 2,500 other users, and VIP level 4-6 could follow a maximum of 3,000.

There will be a discount for users who sign up to 3-month, 6-month, 9-month and 12-month packages. The discount rate for the 12-month package is 90 percent, lower than QQ’s 91 percent.

Payment  channels include online banking, wei-currency, mobile and voice phone.