Tencent is hosting its second Global Digital Ecosystem Summit from September 9-11, 2020 online. Tencent marked the occasion by announcing plans to better support enterprises and industries as many are accelerating their digital upgrades to drive business growth. During the summit, Tencent Research Institute released the Digital China Index Report 2020 indicating China’s digital economy index grew 73.2% in 2019 from the year prior. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic reveals that connectivity has become the foundation of economic and social development, and that data is now a key element in production. New infrastructure and technologies should not be used simply to respond in emergency situations, but cultivated for strategic, long-term use,” said Pony Ma, Chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd. “Tencent looks forward to working closely with our tech partners to find innovative solutions for new problems. We will become a ‘digital assistant’ that facilitates a transformation and upgrade for all industries and walks of life. Together we can build an open, innovative and secure ecosystem.”

“Efficiency is key to successful business operations and digitalization can help to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.” said Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of the Cloud and Smart Industries Group. “Data analytics and efficiency enhancement are the holy grail for industries undergoing digital upgrades. Because of this, data security is critical to safeguarding industrial digitalization and creating long-term, sustainable value. Industries that embrace digitalization will develop and evolve into mutually beneficial ecosystems. Through this process, Tencent will become a helpful ‘digital assistant,’ integrating into various ecosystems and with our partners' capabilities to provide superior products and services for our customers.”

Tong also announced that Tencent will invest RMB10 billion to assist SMEs in the future and provide them with 100 SaaS solutions and 100 training courses by collaborating with 100 partners, in order to tailor the solutions for each enterprise customer.

Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of the Cloud and Smart Industries Group

The Tencent Research Institute also issued The Digital China Index 2020 at the summit, an annual report analyzing the development of the digital economy in China. According to the report, the total index for 2019 increased by 73.2% year on year, primarily driven by Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Shandong provinces, three of the country’s largest economies by GDP. The digital upgrade in four sectors, including industries, culture and entertainment, life services and municipal services, drove the substantial uptick in the digital economy. Data shows the digital industry index grew the fastest, with a 91.3% year-over-year increase, contributing more than 40% to the total growth of the index. In addition, cloud adoption across the country has grew 118% in 2019 year on year. 

Tencent has leveraged its technology, solutions, and years of expertise in business development to help industries and enterprises accelerate digital upgrade.  By providing artificial intelligence (AI), 5G, blockchain, security and other technologies to enterprise customers, Tencent can help them strengthen their technical foundation to capture the next wave of business growth. More than 300 joint solutions have been formed to date to help enterprises solve practical problems as a result of collaboration with more than 8,000 partners. Tencent is also assisting partners by providing training and investment to support their digital transformation.

Digitalization has become even more critical since the pandemic. Tencent has supported the battle against COVID-19 and the post-pandemic economic recovery by providing digital production tools to help enterprises resume their businesses and production quickly and efficiently, while supporting the massive demand for online learning, remote working, and home entertainment. Tencent Meeting currently has more than 100 million registered users, and WeCom supports business communication for more than 250 million users. In addition, more than 100 million students have resumed classes via Tencent Education solutions and WeCom, and more than 26,000 enterprises participated in the cloud exhibition at the Canton Fair this year supported by Tencent technologies. Post-pandemic, the company will continue supporting businesses and organizations across a broad cross-section of industries, including municipal services, retail, finance, transportation, manufacturing, education, medical and many others.