Chinese tech giant Tencent said it fired more than 120 employees last year for violating its anti-fraud rules, including corruption and embezzlement.
The Hong Kong-listed company is the world’s leading video game maker and the owner of the popular super-app WeChat, which is installed on almost every phone in the country.
In 2022, Tencent founder Pony Ma described the level of corruption at his company as “shocking” and the firm vowed to take action, according to state media reports.
More than 70 violations of the code of conduct were reported last year, Tencent said.
“More than 120 people have been fired” from the company and nearly 20 have been reported to authorities, the group said in a statement released Friday.
Some of the dismissed employees belonged to the PCG group branch responsible for broadcasting content such as news, sports and movies.
Others worked in the medical services group, a sector where Tencent’s telemedicine apps have a huge share of the Chinese market.
One of the employees implicated by Tencent was sentenced to four years in prison and fined 100,000 yuan ($14,000), according to a press release.
The announcement comes after years of trouble for the Chinese tech giants.
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After a period of rapid growth, the sector underwent a major regulatory crackdown by Chinese authorities beginning in late 2020.
As a result, billions of dollars in market capitalization were lost and the profits of powerful Internet companies plummeted.
Tencent, which currently has just over 100,000 employees, has not been spared.
Limiting online gaming time in China for under-18s has also been a drag on the group’s profitability.
Tencent is now looking for more opportunities abroad, especially in Europe, where it is strengthening its position by acquiring stakes in major game studios.
