(Yicai Global) May 11 -- China's biggest tech firm by market cap, Tencent Holdings Ltd., has penned an agreement with the United Kingdom's Department for International Trade which will see the pair work together in the digital and cultural sectors.

Tencent executive Lau Seng Yee and the UK's Secretary of State for International Trade, Liam Fox, signed the deal in London yesterday, state-owned news agency Xinhua reported. It will see Tencent and top British firms cooperate in film and television, fashion art and gaming.

The Shenzhen-based firm already has a number of partnerships in the UK. It teamed up with the University of Oxford in quantum computing and computer vision research, and joined hands with Babylon Healthcare Services Ltd., a London-based online healthcare firm, to work on artificial intelligence consultations and possibly bring them to WeChat, Tencent's multi-purpose messaging app with over a billion monthly active users.

Under the new deal, Tencent Penguin Pictures will sign a three-year deal with the BBC to create and promote quality documentaries and other content along with relevant licenses. Tencent's QQ Video worked with the BBC last year to produce a nature documentary called Blue Planet II, which brought in 220 million viewers.

Tencent will also team up with the British Fashion Council to bring digitized solutions to the sector. Their first task will be to use artificial intelligence, social media and big data to tap the minds of today's youth and integrate their findings into designs.

The firm will then look to bring in aspects of British culture into its popular games in a bid to facilitate cultural exchanges between the two countries. One example will include the addition of a British-style race track to Tencent's mobile game QQ Speed Car, as well as UK-inspired character outfits and music. The game has over 100 million registered users, with 20 million playing every day.

Tencent also partnered academic publisher Springer Nature to set up a prize for young scientists and encourage interdisciplinary study around the world to address major challenges facing humanity and planet Earth.

Editor: James Boynton