Tencent plans $1.57bn investment in cloud services

Tencent Holdings has announced it will invest RMB10 billion (US$1.57 billion) over the next five years in its cloud-computing services, The Wall Street Journal reported. The online gaming and social network-focused e-commerce firm will build and run data centers in China, Hong Kong and North America, a move that echoes chief rival Alibaba Group Holding’s March debut of its first US data center in Silicon Valley, in addition to existing data centers in Hong Kong and China. Tencents said its investment would also be used to recruit new talent and promote its cloud services through marketing campaigns.