‘Health issues’ said to force Tencent's Pony Ma to miss China’s top legislative meeting

The Tencent founder is expected to submit in absentia a range of proposals to the National People’s Congress

Those include suggestions involving the industrial internet, financial technology and medical services

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Tencent Holdings chairman and chief executive Pony Ma Huateng speaks at the fifth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, in November of 2018. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:49pm, 18 May 2020Updated: 7:49pm, 18 May 2020

Pony Ma Huateng, the billionaire founder of internet giant Tencent Holdings, is not expected to attend China’s annual parliamentary meeting, the National People’s Congress (NPC), owing to an undisclosed health condition, according to local media.

Ma, 48, who has been an NPC delegate since 2013, will miss this year’s event because of “health issues”, according to a report on Monday by Guangzhou-based newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily.

That would mark the second absence for Ma, the chairman and chief executive of Hong Kong-listed Tencent. He did not take part in 2014 because of lumbar spine problems.

Shenzhen-based Tencent, which runs the world’s largest video games business by revenue and China’s biggest social media platform, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ma, however, will not be a complete no-show at the meeting, which will kick off this Friday. He plans to submit in absentia seven proposals to China’s top legislative body, including on the industrial internet, financial technology and medical services, according to Tencent’s post on its official WeChat account on Monday.

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