Chinese internet giant Tencent on Wednesday posted its lowest annual profit since 2019, despite slight improvements recently in China's economy and a more lenient attitude taken by regulators towards the tech sector.

Tencent's total net profit for 2023 stood at 115.2 billion yuan ($16.0 billion), according to a filing of annual results at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Decades of meteoric growth that turned China's tech industry into one of the most dynamic in the world came to an abrupt halt in 2020, when Beijing introduced more stringent oversight measures.

Authorities have since relaxed their approach to regulating the vital domestic tech sector as broader concerns about the health of China's economy mount.

Shenzhen-based Tencent -- one of the world's leading gaming firms and developer of China's ubiquitous messaging and services app WeChat -- saw its annual profit fall 16 percent in 2022 on the heels of a fresh crackdown on video game addiction among youth.