Tencent is a global pioneer in integrated internet-based technology and cultural enterprises. It develops and delivers game-changing products, including social communication platforms Weixin/WeChat, QQ, Tencent Video, and WeiShi, and digital content to improve the quality of life for over 1 billion netizens worldwide. Its e-commerce, online advertising, instant messaging, and wireless internet portals provide value-added services to consumers, businesses, and other partners.
The company is a global leader in the mobile gaming industry, with its flagship games titles, Honor of Kings and Clash Royale, among the top grossing on the App Store. It is also the biggest video game publisher in China and one of the largest tech companies in the world. Its WeChat super app is woven into the fabric of Chinese life, used to chat with friends, shop, and order taxis, among many other things. But the firm is also a central part of Beijing’s surveillance and censorship apparatus, with human rights groups accusing it of being used by the government to spread propaganda, monitor citizens, and crush dissent. The close collaboration has led to concerns in the U.S. that the data collection by apps like WeChat and TikTok threatens Americans’ personal information and privacy, prompting President Donald Trump to try to ban WeChat in the country.
In the book, Lulu Chen argues that Tencent’s success has been achieved by maintaining close ties with the government, which values access to the torrents of data the company gathers on users daily. She cites a series of examples in which the company has been able to quickly push content and products through to users on WeChat compared to Sina Weibo and says the firm can block access to specific users.
But despite the success, Tencent is still fighting an uphill battle as Beijing tightens oversight of mobile apps in the country. In the latest blow, regulators have begun to require that state-level authorities approve all apps before being available for download. The move follows similar actions by Apple, Baidu, and others as the country looks to bring its app industry under stricter control.
Mobile app stores in China run by Tencent, Huawei Technologies (0700. HK), Xiaomi (1810. HK), and others have started to bar app publishers from launching new apps if they do not make all the disclosures required by authorities, documents seen by Reuters. The documents showed that these moves comply with new rules introduced last month as Beijing tightens oversight of mobile apps to protect user privacy and security.
The move is causing consternation in the industry that is trying to strike the right balance between providing an open platform for developers and protecting users’ personal data. In the past, some app publishers have not provided the complete disclosures required by authorities or allowed users to delete their personal information after downloading an app. The new requirements will force them to change that. AppinChina, a firm that analyzes and publishes information on the Chinese app market, said it was starting to see apps drop off its list of the most popular in China because of their need for compliance with the new rules.
