The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
BEIJING, China — Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings said it will step up its investment overseas and in industries such as "smart retail," having already invested in more than 800 companies.
Those firms include 70 listed companies and over 160 are valued at more than $1 billion, according a speech made by Tencent President Martin Lau at a conference last week which the company posted on its social media account on Monday.
Tencent is known to have stakes in firms such as food delivery giant Meituan Dianping, e-commerce site Pinduoduo and video game companies such as Riot Games and Supercell.
But the company, worth $490 billion and the second-biggest company in Asia by market value after arch-rival Alibaba Group Holdings, rarely gives an overview or discloses details of its investment activities.
"Previously our traditional investment sectors were mostly focused on video games content and frontiers of science and technology," Lau told a gathering of more than 500 Tencent-backed companies.
"However, with the development of Tencent's WeChat mini-app ecosystem and payment platform, we will pay more attention to smart retail and payment platforms in future," he said.
By Pei Li and Brenda Goh; editor: Edwina Gibbs.
Imran Amed shares his observations from a trip to the wealthy desert metropolis, home to the most lucrative stores for many of the world’s top fashion brands.
Spurred by rapid growth in the pure luxury market, global brands operating in lower-priced segments like contemporary fashion are entering the country or accelerating expansion plans.
This week’s round-up of global markets fashion business news also features India’s textile industry, Chinese beauty major Yatsen and Ghana’s newest garment factory.
Luxury fashion retailers in the oil-rich African nation keep a low profile to provide a discreet shopping environment for consumers and avoid flaunting the elite nature of their own business.