Tencent becomes Asia's most valuable company

SHENZHEN -- Chinese internet giant Tencent has become Asia's most valuable company with its shares closing at record high on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Monday.

Shares of Tencent closed at HK$420 per share, which puts its market value at $510.7 billion. It became the sixth ranking company in market value in the world, the company said.

Tencent is also the first Asian company to beat the $500-billion mark, it said.

On Nov 15, Tencent announced its unaudited consolidated results for the third quarter of 2017, with its total revenues at $9.825 billion, an increase of 61 percent year on year.

Chairman and CEO of Tencent, Ma Huateng, said the company recorded strong business growth in games, digital content, online advertising and payment related services.

Analysts said the new market value put Tencent in the same camp as US tech giants Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook, whose values have all exceeded the $500-billion mark.