Tencent owns WeChat, which launched in 2011 as a mobile messaging service.
WeChat was developed by Tencent’s Guangzhou research team and was initially released under the name Weixin in China. It expanded from text and voice messaging into a broad platform supporting payments, social networking, games, media, business accounts, and mini programs. Outside mainland China, the service is generally known as WeChat.
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 helped the company build a large online user base. WeChat later became one of Tencent’s most important consumer platforms.
A common mix-up is treating WeChat as an independent public company. It is a Tencent product, while Tencent Holdings is the listed parent corporation. WeChat Pay is also part of the WeChat ecosystem, but it is a payment service rather than the name of the entire platform.