Tencent created WeChat, China’s hugely popular messaging and payments platform.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 by Pony Ma, Zhang Zhidong, Xu Cheney, Chen Yidan, and Zeng Liqing. Its first major product was QQ, an instant-messaging service that became one of China’s best-known internet brands.
WeChat, known in China as Weixin, launched in 2011. It expanded beyond text messaging into voice and video calls, social feeds, official accounts, mini-programs, gaming, and mobile payments. This broad design helped make WeChat a central digital platform rather than a single-purpose chat application.
Tencent also operates major online game businesses and owns stakes in numerous technology and entertainment companies. WeChat and WhatsApp are both messaging services, but they belong to different corporate groups: WeChat is Tencent’s product, while WhatsApp is owned by Meta.