(Yicai Global) July. 6 -- Tencent Holdings and private carmaker Geely Holding Group have teamed up as major backers for China Railway's new on-board Wi-Fi platform.

The pair has taken a 49 percent stake in the newly-formed China Railway Gecent Technology, tech news site PingWest reported, adding that the firm will provide leisure and entertainment, news, online food ordering and e-commerce.

China Railway has launched more and more internet-based value-added services, Tencent Chief Executive Pony Ma said at the inauguration ceremony, adding that the country's passengers are thinking out of the box about rail travel and China Railway may become one of China's largest Internet companies.

China Railway WeChat-based customer service center has some 36 million followers and the number has surged seven-fold since bringing in WeChat Pay services last year, Ma added.

Tencent and Geely won the bidding in May to acquire a 49 percent stake in High Speed Train Network Technology, the predecessor to China Railway Gecent for CNY4.3 billion (USD648 million). Tencent and Geely hold 10 percent 39 percent stakes, respectively, with China Railway holding the remaining 51 percent.

Editor: William Clegg