Tencent’s CICC tie-up shows Chinese fintechs’ next steps

WeChat mascots are displayed inside Tencent office at TIT Creativity Industry Zone in Guangzhou, China

The mainland internet company, owner of the WeChat messaging app that has become ubiquitous in Chinese life, has bought a 5% stake in CICC, one of the country’s most storied brokerages.

These are two big names. Tencent might not have quite the global brand recognition of Alibaba and its mobile payments arm Ant/Alipay, but domestically it is exceptionally powerful. 

WeChat has 938 million active monthly users, roughly equivalent to three USs.