China's Tencent becomes more valuable than Facebook

Chinese internet giant Tencent has surpassed Facebook in terms of market value just a day after it became the first Asian technology firm to reach the $500 billion valuation mark.

Tencent shares hit a record high of 439.6 Hong Kong dollars during Asian trading hours on Tuesday, giving it a market capitalization of 4.17 trillion Hong Kong dollars ($534.5 billion).

The Chinese firm's value overtook Facebook's $519.4 billion market capitalization, which was hit at the close of the U.S. markets on Monday.

Also Monday, Tencent beat Alibaba to become the first Chinese technology company to hit the $500 billion market capitalization mark. Tencent is also within touching distance of Amazon's $542.7 billion valuation.

Tencent went public in Hong Kong in 2004 at 3.70 Hong Kong dollars per share. Since then, it has rallied over 11,000 percent. Tencent's stock this year alone is up 126.69 percent.

Still, the company is not well-known outside of China, but owns the country's most popular messaging service, WeChat, which has close to 1 billion users. Tencent is a sprawling business that spans gaming, social media, news and content.

Online and mobile games are a key part of the business — the division brought in over $4 billion in revenue last quarter. In 2016, Tencent acquired a majority stake in Finnish smartphone maker Supercell, the company behind the popular "Clash of Clans" mobile game.

Tencent is hoping to export this Chinese phenomenon abroad, and Malaysia is first in line for the payment system.
But it is proving difficult to get people outside China to embrace WeChat.
The company has long agreed to censor content in China - and abroad - in line with the demands of the Chinese government.

There are also persistent concerns about security because, unlike those on some other messaging apps, communications on WeChat are not encrypted.