Tencent, one of the top three giants in China's Internet sector, has been stepping up its investments in Silicon Valley during the last two years. The global success of its social messaging app WeChat also makes it a key company to watch this year, said Joel Backaler.

WeChat had 468 million monthly active users during the second quarter of 2014, slightly less than Silicon Valley-founded WhatsApp, which has more than 500 million, China Daily reporter Lian Zi reported on Nov 26.

Chinese students often introduce WeChat to their classmates, friends and professors at US universities, especially in California, the state with the largest Chinese-American population.

A screen shot of a WeChat TV commercial, which features Argentina football star Lionel Messi. [Screen shot/ Youtube.com]