The Secret Chinese Company That Owns Everything

If you look at the world’s most valuable companies, you won’t be surprised to find the likes of Apple, Microsoft, and Google. But one name does stand out: Tencent. The company is worth more than the likes of Facebook, Mastercard, and Samsung, and yet if you asked the majority of people what Tencent does, you’d be met with a confused look. The truth, is that Tencent does everything. Because whilst Tecent’s mascot is a friendly-looking penguin - a more accurate animal to embody this conglomerate would be a giant octopus, with tentacles reaching into almost every industry you can think of, all over the world. Whether you realize it or not, you almost certainly use products or services Tencent is involved with.

However in Tencent’s home country of China, it’s a very different story; everyone is aware that Tencent dominates their lives. And that’s because in China, Tencent has achieved the seemingly impossible: one app to rule them all. Tencent created an app called WeChat that's been dubbed ‘the everything app’ because almost all of China’s 1.4 billion population use this app for an average of 4 hours every day, more than the average American user spends on all social media apps combined.

And the reason people in China use WeChat so much is because it’s basically every app you can think of rolled into one. Its essentially Facebook, PayPal, Whatsapp, Netflix, Google, Spotify, Uber, Yelp, Tinder, Zoom, YouTube, Deliveroo, Amazon and lots lots more all in one single app. You pay your bills through it, call your friends through it, and essentially live your entire life through it. However one single company having access to literally all your data - from your exact location to your entire bank history to every message and call and search you’ve ever made - it’s a lot. And then it gets worse when you realize that the line between where Tencent ends and the Chinese government begins, is blurry. Meaning, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has access to all that information as well, making WeChat one of the most powerful surveillance tools ever.

Plus, private messages and images that are sent through Tencent’s apps like WeChat are scanned to see if they need to be censored - if you say anything the Chinese government doesn’t want you to, you could end up in jail, or disappear. The Chinese government has even openly confirmed that it can access deleted WeChat conversations.

Tencent has used its vast wealth and resources to expand into many industries. They are also the largest gaming company in the world - with revenue significantly higher than any competitor. Gaming is just one of countless different industries Tencent operates in. Also Tencent’s Payments division is nearly as big as PayPal’s entire business. And its reported WeChatPay generates over 1 billion payment transactions per day - more than Visa and Mastercard. But it’s only recently that the West has started to realise the influence Tencent - and thus China - actually have... In this business documentary, we'll answer questions like: What is Tencent? What does Tencent do? How did Tencent and other Chinese businesses get so big?