Not content with more than half a million followers on Weibo – China's broad equivalent of Twitter – the prime minister has opened a new account on WeChat, a hugely popular and fast-growing Chinese mobile phone chat application.

“Dear friends on WeChat, I am Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd,” he says in an introductory video posted on August 13. “I'm extremely glad to be able to use this platform to share news about my life."

Mr Rudd's video has amassed more than 30,000 views on one video-sharing website where the video has been reposted. The friendly tone in the WeChat video sits at odds with his comments this week that he was an "economic nationalist" and would seriously rethink the openness with which foreign investors could buy up farmland in Australia.

Recent updates on both the prime minister's Weibo and WeChat have not been overtly political; instead they convey lighter moments while on the campaign trail. In a Weibo update on Thursday, Mr Rudd posted pictures of his granddaughter, Josephine, learning how to walk.

Mr Rudd has identified winning support among Chinese communities in Australia as a key tactic to boost his chances in the federal election.

He handpicked Chinese-Australian businessman Jason Yat-sen Li, who has flown in from Beijing, to contest the key Sydney seat of Bennelong.

WeChat is owned by internet giant Tencent and has 236 million users, including more than 100 million users outside of China.