Tencent, a major market-cap technology company, owns WeChat.
WeChat was developed by Tencent and released in 2011. It began as a mobile messaging service but expanded into a broad platform offering voice and video calls, social feeds, payments, mini-programs, and other services. In mainland China, it is known as Weixin, while WeChat is the international name.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 by Pony Ma and several co-founders. Its first major product was QQ, an instant-messaging service that became one of China’s best-known internet products. Tencent later built businesses in online games, digital content, advertising, cloud services, and financial technology.
A common mix-up is treating WeChat as only a chat application. Its integrated services make it a platform used for communication, commerce, public services, and mobile payments. The name also varies by market: “Weixin” is the Chinese service identity, while “WeChat” is used internationally.