Tencent's Entry into the Real Estate Market?... New Addition to Business Scope

China's largest big tech company, Tencent, has signaled its entry into the real estate market. This move is attracting attention as the company is expanding its business areas, recently collaborating with global card companies in the mobile payment market.

On the 26th, China Securities Journal, citing corporate information provider Tianyancha, reported that Tencent Technology has added "real estate development and operation" and "non-residential real estate leasing" to its new business scope. Tencent Technology was established in 2000 with a capital of 2 million USD (approximately 2.6 billion KRW).

Following the news, rumors spread in the market that Tencent might be entering the real estate business. However, a Tencent representative explained, "We are not engaging in real estate business in the general sense, but this was necessary for procedural reasons," adding, "There was a demand arising from the Dachan Bay (Shenzhen, Guangdong Province) development project currently underway."

The Dachan Bay project involves Tencent building its own industrial complex, which will include office real estate and some public support facilities such as a conference center, requiring adjustments to the business scope according to relevant regulations.

Tencent has been continuously expanding its business scope into new areas recently. Through WeChat, the largest messenger service operating in China, Tencent has decided to eliminate small payment fees in cooperation with Visa, JCB, and Mastercard.

As a result, after entering China, users can install the WeChat Pay app → verify their identity with a passport and a mobile phone registered outside China → link a credit card, enabling them to use the commonly accepted "QR code payment" in China. The WeChat payment network supports merchants in various sectors such as catering, transportation, and supermarkets.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.