This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy.

On Nov 12, 1998, Tencent was founded in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. After 20 years of development, it has become China's social media and entertainment giant. It operates the hugely popular social media platform WeChat and the hit games Arena of Valor and Honor of Kings. It is also the first Asian tech firm to join the exclusive club of tech companies worth more than $500 billion.

Tecent's success dates to the country's dramatic internet boom in the 1990s, when the population of internet users surged. Its first product was OICQ messenger, later renamed QQ.