Tencent chair downplays the new e-commerce function inside WeChat

Pony Ma Huateng, the reticent founder of Tencent Holdings (0700), said he hopes the market doesn't overly praise the company’s new e-commerce function within its WeChat app as it needs at least five years to make a connector between different e-commerce ecosystems, which is a long process.

The new function launched last August allows WeChat users to buy gifts worth up to 10,000 yuan (HK$10,620) at stores within the mobile app.

(June Chen)