Asian Tech Press (Jan 12) -- Tencent is just an ordinary company and can be replaced at any time, founder and CEO Pony Ma Huateng said at a 2021 end-of-year staff meeting, according to Chinese media reports.

At the staff meeting at the end of 2021, Ma expressed his thoughts on the series of changes that have taken place in 2021, the reports said.

He said Tencent is just an ordinary company during the country's great social development, a beneficiary of the national development, and not some basic service that can be replaced at any time.

Ma voiced that in the future, when Tencent serves the country and society, it should not be absent, be in place and not overstep, and be a good assistant and connector.

Tencent is currently China's largest Internet company by market capitalization, ranking 11th among the world's most valuable companies with a market cap of $583.15 billion.

According to data from companiesmarketcap.com, a market data aggregator website, Tencent's market cap shrank by 17.3% in 2021.

And Tencent's flagship social app WeChat has more than 1 billion active users in China, which means the Chinese gaming and social media company would face more challenges in finding a balance between regulation, social responsibility and business.