Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Mainland Internet company Tencent Holdings has bought Google-backed Chinese social networking firm Comsenz for more than 60 million dollars, the companies and a media report said.
Tencent, based in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen, will seek to link accounts from Comsenz's Discuz! platform to its popular instant messaging service QQ, the firms said in a statement.
Investors in Beijing-based Comsenz, which makes software for posting messages on websites, include Google and two US venture capital firms - Sequoia Capital and Morningside Ventures.
The two companies did not disclose the value of the deal but a report carried in the China Business News said it was worth more than 60 million dollars, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.
China has the world's largest Internet population with around 420 million users, according to official figures.
Neither Tencent or Comsenz have specified the size of Google's investment in the social networking firm.
The acquisition came after Google said earlier this year it would no longer bow to government censors and effectively shut down its mainland search engine, re-routing mainland users to its uncensored site in Hong Kong.
As well as QQ, Hong Kong-listed Tencent operates various online services, including games, web portal QQ.com, search engine soso.com and a mobile portal.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments