THE market capitalization of the Shenzhen-based technology giant Tencent reached HK$2.64 trillion (US$387 billion) Monday, surpassing Alibaba to become the most valuable listed company in Asia, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

The stock price of Tencent Holdings grew by 2.27 percent Monday and its market capitalization soared to HK$2.64 trillion when the market closed, which was higher than Alibaba’s US$336.5 billion.

The Q1 performance report released by Tencent previously showed that the company’s total revenue in the first quarter was 49.5 billion yuan (US$7.25 billion) as of March 31, up by 55 percent compared with the first quarter last year. The company’s profit was 19.2 billion yuan in the first quarter, with a year-on-year growth of 44 percent.

The contributors to Tencent’s climbing revenue in the first quarter were not only its rapidly growing WeChat and advertising business, but also its value-added services.

Data shows that the company’s value-added services generated an income of 35.1 billion yuan in the first quarter, accounting for 71 percent of the company’s total revenue.

Additionally, the revenue of Tencent’s mobile games reached 12.9 billion yuan in the first quarter, up by 57 percent compared with the first quarter last year. One of the company’s most popular mobile games, King of Glory, has become the most profitable mobile game in the world, according to a report released by the third-party statistics agency, App Annie, last month.

A survey report released by Zhongtai Securities on Monday says King of Glory has contributed to the profit growth of the mobile game industry in China as a whole, and it has developed the habit of paying in the game as well as attracted many female and young users.

However, the company’s mobile games have also caused controversies.

In April, an 11-year-old boy in Longhua District was found to have spent 30,000 yuan of his family’s savings on the game in three months without his parents’ knowledge. Tencent has promised to refund the family.

The report shows that the total revenue of the mobile game industry in China soared by 59.2 percent to 81.9 billion yuan last year and the revenue might reach 100 billion yuan this year, while 70 percent of the market share is occupied by Tencent and Netease.

(Zhang Yang)