Tencent and Geely secure minority stake in China Railway Corp's subsidiary

Tencent Holdings Ltd said it has formed a consortium with domestic automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to jointly secure a minority stake in High Speed Network Technology Company, which provides Wi-Fi and technology services to high-speed rail customers across China.

Tencent and Geely Holding will jointly hold 49 percent of the company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of state-owned China Railway Corporation, according to a joint statement on Thursday. However, the amount of the transaction was disclosed.

Geely and Tencent will collaborate to set up more on-board Wi-Fi hotspots and to create a platform providing various value-added services throughout the high-speed rail network.

Tencent said in an email statement on Thursday the transaction is another move for the company to expand its smart transport industry solutions and it hopes to collaborate with Geely to offer one-stop transport service for customers.

Apart from providing high-speed Wi-Fi connection, the two parties also intend to work with CRC's wholly-owned subsidiary to expand services ranging from leisure and entertainment, business and leisure travel as well as transport connection services.

In 2017, the number of high-speed railway passengers exceeded 1.7 billion and passenger demand for comprehensive and individualized services have been rising.