Tencent Tops 2017 BrandZ Ranking and First Chinese Brand to Break $100B Brand Value Mark

Brand value rises 29% as Tencent named China's Most Valuable Brand for third year running

SHENZHEN, China, March 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tencent Holdings Limited, a leading provider of Internet value added services in China, has been named China's most valuable brand for the third year running in the annual WPP BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands 2017.

Tencent's brand value grew 29% to $106.2 billion, eclipsing Tencent's 24% rise in brand value from the 2016 BrandZ study and puts Tencent as the first ever Chinese brand to break the $100 billion brand valuation barrier.

According to Kantar Millward Brown, the hold on the number one spot and 29% growth is attributed to the popularity of social platform WeChat. As part of its "Connection" strategy, Tencent continues to make its social platforms more interactive for users to communicate and socialise, as well as to enjoy content and services efficiently.

The awards were formally announced at the BrandZ's summit organized by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown which featured SY Lau, Tencent's President of Online Media Group and Senior Executive Vice President, who spoke during the BrandZ CEO panel discussion titled "Building a Thriving China Business in a Changing World".

SY Lau discussed the "globalization" challenge with CEOs from world-leading companies including WPP, Shell and Nestle. "The world has entered into a new phase of digital globalization which has followed Thomas Friedman's theory of globalization in three stages, from countries to companies and now to individuals," said Lau.

Lau added that in this new phase, "with the right people, right time, and right place, companies going global must not simply promote their products, but more importantly they must demonstrate patience, and a strong commitment to users as well as to corporate social responsibility."

This kind of commitment and responsibility to users can also be demonstrated through innovation, such as Tencent's success with Fine Art, an AI system designed by Tencent's AI Lab. The Fine Art system recently triumphed over Japan's DeepZenGo at the 10th Computer Go UEC Cup. Lau also mentioned the application of virtual reality technologies in Tencent Sports' live streaming of NBA games as an example of pushing innovation to benefit users. "Tencent will continue to innovate and strive to improve the quality of life for users," said Lau.

The BrandZ ranking combines financial data from Bloomberg and Kantar Worldpanel with consumer opinions gathered from interviews with over 400,000 Chinese consumers since the ranking first launched in 2008. The BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Chinese Brands is the most definitive and robust ranking of Chinese brands available.

About Tencent

Tencent uses technology to enrich the lives of Internet users. Every day, hundreds of millions of people communicate, share experiences, consume information and seek entertainment through our integrated platforms. Tencent's diversified services include QQ, Weixin/WeChat for communications; Qzone for social networking; QQ Game Platform for online games; QQ.com and Tencent News for information and Tencent Video for video content.

Tencent was founded in Shenzhen in 1998 and went public on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2004. The Company is one of the constituent stocks of the Hang Seng Index. Tencent seeks to evolve with the Internet by investing in innovation, providing a mutually beneficial environment for partners, and staying close to users.

SOURCE Tencent Holdings Limited