ORGANIZATION
Tencent
An internet company founded in Shenzhen, China, in November 1998. It launched the QQ messenger in February 1999 and Weixin (WeChat outside China) in January 2011; the two had 1,418 million combined monthly active users at the end of 2025. It listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2004. Its revenue rests on value-added services such as games and social networks, on marketing services, and on payments and cloud: in 2025 revenue was CNY751.8 billion, including CNY164.2 billion from domestic games and CNY77.4 billion from international games. It launched its own foundation model, Hunyuan (HY), in September 2023. In July 2021 China's State Administration for Market Regulation ordered it to give up exclusive music licensing rights, and in January 2025 the US Department of Defense added it to its list of Chinese military companies.
Organization
- Founded
- 1998
- Status
- Active
- Active
- 1998–
- Appearances
- 00
- Name
- ENTencentJAテンセント（騰訊）
Tencent is an internet company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. Its annual report gives its group head office as Tencent Binhai Towers in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, and its workforce as 115,849 at 31 December 2025. Ma Huateng (Pony Ma) is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. It is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Milestones, from its own timeline
Selected entries from the timeline in Tencent's corporate overview (third quarter of 2025 edition):
| When | What happened |
|---|---|
| November 1998 | Tencent founded |
| February 1999 | QQ messenger launched |
| June 2004 | Listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange |
| January 2011 | Weixin (WeChat outside China) launched |
| August 2013 | Weixin Pay launched |
| September 2023 | Its own foundation model, HunYuan, launched |
| May 2024 | AI assistant Yuanbao launched |
QQ was the entry point of the PC era and Weixin of the smartphone era, and Tencent has layered games, payments and advertising on top of the two. As of 31 December 2025, Weixin and WeChat had 1,418 million combined monthly active users (up 2%), and QQ had 508 million on mobile devices (down 3%).
Where the revenue comes from — 2025
Revenue for the year ended December 2025 was CNY751.8 billion, up 14%. IFRS profit attributable to equity holders was CNY224.8 billion (up 16%); on a non-IFRS basis, which excludes one-time and certain non-cash items, it was CNY259.6 billion (up 17%).
| Line | Revenue | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Value-added services (VAS), total | CNY369.3 billion | +16% |
| of which domestic games | CNY164.2 billion | +18% |
| of which international games | CNY77.4 billion | +33% |
| of which social networks | CNY127.7 billion | +5% |
| Marketing services (advertising) | CNY145.0 billion | +19% |
| FinTech and business services | CNY229.4 billion | +8% |
Tencent attributes the international games growth to Supercell's games and PUBG MOBILE, and says the segment passed US$10 billion for the year. It says advertising grew partly because AI-powered ad targeting raised pricing. Ma Huateng said AI capabilities improved ad targeting and supported more engagement with its games.
Actions by Chinese and US authorities
Measures aimed at Tencent, by the body that took them:
| When | Authority | Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 6 August 2020 | US Executive Order 13943 | Prohibited, from 45 days later, WeChat-related transactions with Tencent |
| 5 January 2021 | US Executive Order 13971 | Prohibited, from 45 days later, transactions with eight apps including Tencent QQ, QQ Wallet and WeChat Pay |
| 9 June 2021 | US Executive Order 14034 | Revoked both of the above (and Executive Order 13942 on TikTok) |
| 24 July 2021 | State Administration for Market Regulation | Fined Tencent CNY500,000 over its 2016 acquisition of China Music and ordered it to give up exclusive music licensing rights within 30 days. SAMR said the deal left Tencent with more than 80% of exclusive music library resources |
| January 2025 | US Department of Defense | Added to its list of "Chinese military companies" under Section 1260H of the National Defense Authorization Act |
Tencent called its addition to the 1260H list "clearly a mistake", saying: "We are not a military company or supplier. Unlike sanctions or export controls, this listing has no impact on our business." Tencent is not among the ten entities removed in the list's 8 June 2026 update, as summarized by WilmerHale.
Hunyuan (HY) — its own foundation model
Tencent says it set up an AI lab in 2016 and has invested heavily in its own foundation model since 2023. It launched HunYuan in September 2023 and now calls the family HY. Its corporate overview says it has open-sourced several HY models, covering 3D generation, 3D world generation, video generation, image generation and a large language model. In its 2025 results Tencent claims that HY became an industry leader in multimodal capabilities including 3D, text-to-image and world modeling, and says it deployed new AI capabilities in Yuanbao and Weixin.
Tencent on this site
| Event | Tencent's part |
|---|---|
| QR code | WeChat Pay and Alipay spread mobile payments in China on QR codes |
| Log4Shell | Tencent QQ listed among the products built on the vulnerable library |
| Microsoft's Activision deal | Named as a gaming company ahead of Microsoft by revenue |
Almost all of Tencent's business sits on two user bases, QQ and Weixin. That is why the US measures named apps (WeChat, QQ, WeChat Pay) before they named the company. China's regulator went the other way, aiming at a market structure: the exclusive music rights Tencent had built up through acquisition.
Questions this page answers
- When was Tencent founded, and what did it start with?
- According to its milestones, Tencent was founded in November 1998 and launched the QQ messenger in February 1999. It listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in June 2004 and launched Weixin (WeChat) in January 2011. Its head office is in Shenzhen.
- How many people use WeChat?
- As of 31 December 2025, Weixin and WeChat had 1,418 million combined monthly active users (up 2%). QQ had 508 million mobile monthly active users (down 3%).
- How large is Tencent's business today?
- For the year ended December 2025, revenue was CNY751.8 billion (up 14%) and IFRS profit attributable to equity holders CNY224.8 billion (up 16%). Domestic games brought in CNY164.2 billion, international games CNY77.4 billion, marketing services CNY145.0 billion and FinTech and business services CNY229.4 billion.
- What has the US government done about Tencent?
- Executive Order 13943 of 6 August 2020 targeted transactions with Tencent related to WeChat, and Executive Order 13971 of 5 January 2021 targeted Tencent QQ, WeChat Pay and other apps; both were revoked by Executive Order 14034 on 9 June 2021. In January 2025 the Department of Defense added Tencent to its Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies, which Tencent called clearly a mistake.
Sources
2025 revenue of CNY751.8 billion (up 14%), IFRS profit attributable of CNY224.8 billion, non-IFRS CNY259.6 billion, segment revenue (domestic games CNY164.2bn, international games CNY77.4bn, social networks CNY127.7bn, marketing CNY145.0bn, FinTech and business services CNY229.4bn), 1,418 million Weixin and WeChat MAU, 508 million QQ, HY models and Yuanbao, Chairman and CEO Ma Huateng
PrimaryTencent Holdings Limited 2025 Annual Report — Tencent
115,849 employees (31 December 2025); group head office at Tencent Binhai Towers, Nanshan District, Shenzhen
PrimaryCorporate Overview, Third Quarter of 2025 — Tencent
Milestones (founded November 1998, QQ February 1999, Hong Kong listing June 2004, Weixin/WeChat January 2011, Weixin Pay August 2013, HunYuan September 2023, Yuanbao May 2024); open-sourcing of several HY models
SAMR's CNY500,000 fine, the order to relinquish exclusive music rights within 30 days, and SAMR's statement that after the 2016 China Music acquisition Tencent held more than 80% of exclusive music library resources
Order prohibiting, from 45 days after its date, WeChat-related transactions with Tencent
Eight apps named, including Tencent QQ, QQ Wallet, WeChat Pay and Alipay
Revocation of Executive Orders 13942, 13943 and 13971
SecondaryPentagon Adds Tencent, CATL To Military Blacklist — Silicon UK, Jan 7, 2025
The Defense Department's addition of Tencent to the 1260H list and Tencent's response ("clearly a mistake"; not a military company or supplier)
The ten entities removed in the 8 June 2026 update (Tencent is not among them)
TertiaryTencent — Wikipedia
General overview (facts in the text were checked against the primary and news sources above)
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