Tencent operates WeChat, a platform for messaging, payments, and digital services.
Tencent is a Chinese technology conglomerate headquartered in Shenzhen. Its best-known consumer product is WeChat, known as Weixin in mainland China. The service combines chat, voice and video calls, social feeds, payments, shopping, games, and mini-programs inside one mobile ecosystem.
Tencent launched WeChat in 2011. It grew from a messaging application into a platform used by businesses, public services, retailers, and developers. Tencent also owns major gaming and entertainment interests, including Riot Games and significant stakes in other game companies.
WeChat is often confused with a conventional social-media site such as Facebook because it includes social feeds, but its integrated payments and mini-program features make it broader than a standard messaging app. Tencent’s diversified gaming, advertising, fintech, and cloud businesses have supported its position among Asia’s most valuable companies.