1.Introduction

□ Tencent is the most successful Internet firm in China.

- Tencent was founded in November 1998 by Ma Huateng and Zhang Zhidong.

- Tencent has grown into China's most profitable Internet company in just 10 years.

• The company achieved rapid growth thanks to various Internet businesses such as the Instant Messenger (IM) Service, online games, Social Network Service (SNS), and supplementary Internet services.

• As of 2009 Tencent's total sales and net profit reached 12.4 billion and 5.2 billion yuan respectively. The aggregate market value of its stocks exceeded 40 billion yuan.