By Yifan Wang

Tencent Holdings Ltd. fired "nearly 70" employees in 2021 for violations of its corporate anti-corruption policies, it said Tuesday.

The world's largest video-game developer said in a statement that it discovered and investigated more than 50 cases of anti-corruption-policy violations through the year, and took actions including contacting public security authorities regarding more than 10 people it suspected of criminal wrongdoing.

Tencent has publicly released accounts of its internal anti-corruption reviews since 2019. The company in 2016 launched a social media account to promote its anti-bribery governance and encourage public reporting of graft, a move that came three years after President Xi Jinping launched his signature anti-corruption campaign.

Analysts said the timing of Tencent's publication this year, after various regulatory action by Chinese authorities last week including summoning internet platform companies like Tencent and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. about workers' welfare, suggests that companies are aware of officials' continued scrutiny of the tech sector after a year-long crackdown.

"Other companies might soon follow suit" and publicize internal anti-corruption reviews, UOB Kay Hian analyst Chun Sung Oong said. He added that "more enforcement actions in the coming months" are likely given the recent passage of several new cybersecurity and personal data policies in China.

Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-25-22 0203ET