BEIJING - Tencent Pictures, the film unit of Chinese tech giant Tencent, has set up a distribution subsidiary aiming to boost its influence on cinemas.

Tencent Pictures Distribution, with a registered capital of 50 million yuan (around $7.9 million), is wholly owned by Tencent Pictures and chaired by Cheng Wu, vice president of Tencent Holdings Ltd and Tencent Pictures CEO, according to Tencent Pictures.

Tencent has spent lavishly in acquiring and co-funding Hollywood blockbusters, including "Warcraft," "Kong: Skull Island," and "Wonder Woman," as well as in creating original content.

"Besides content creation, distribution is another core ability for the content business," said Cheng. "We want to have our own professional team."

Cheng said the new company's business will run independently and will not be limited to content backed by Tencent.