BEIJING, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tech giant Tencent reported surging revenue and profit growth in 2016 thanks to robust online gaming and social networking business.

Total revenues reached 151.94 billion yuan (about 21.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2016, up 48 percent year on year, while profits for the year surged by 42 percent to 41.45 billion yuan (about 5.98 billion dollars), according to the company's financial statement released Wednesday.

Chinese tech giant Tencent reported surging revenue and profit growth in 2016 thanks to robust online gaming and social networking business.

During 2016, Tencent made significant progress in a number of strategic initiatives to further strengthen its leadership and enhance competitiveness, according to Ma Huateng, Chairman and CEO of Tencent.

Value-added services remained a major revenue contributor. Online games revenue grew 16 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, while income from social networks grew 51 percent in Q4.

Revenue from online advertising rose 45 percent year on year in Q4.

The company's monthly active worldwide users on its two instant messaging tools QQ and WeChat reached 868 million and 889 million, respectively, by the end of 2016.

Tencent will seek to deliver a superior experience to its users and create business opportunities for partners while investing heavily in cutting edge technology, including security, cloud, big data and artificial intelligence, according to Ma.