Is tencent one of the world's greatest internet firms? There are grounds for scepticism. The Chinese gaming and social-media firm started in the same way many local internet firms have: by copying Western success, qq, its instant-messaging service, was a clone of icq, an Israeli invention acquired by aol of America. And unlike global internet giants such as Google and Twitter, Tencent still makes its money in its protected home market. Yet the Chinese firm's stockmarket valuation briefly crossed the $100 billion mark this week for the first time.
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