A day after the 19th Party Congress kicked off with a marathon speech by President Xi Jinping, tech giant Tencent rolled out a game to enlist its one billion users on WeChat in a clapping competition.

In the online game, called "Clap for Xi Jinping: A Great Speech", highlights of Mr Xi's 3-1/2 hour speech are shown. Users then compete to see how many times they can tap an "applaud" button superimposed on an iconic image of the Great Hall of the People within 19 seconds - chosen apparently in honour of the Congress, the 19th in the party's history.

The game garnered more than one billion claps by yesterday afternoon - a tribute to a seminal address that transfixed markets and was shown live on virtually every Chinese TV station and worldwide on Wednesday.

Tencent and other leading Chinese Internet firms are known to make gestures to stay in the good graces of the authorities. The government has long been said to be exploring ways to strengthen their oversight by taking stakes in operators of video streaming sites and online portals, such as Tencent.