Tencent Holdings Ltd. plans to invest more than US$10 billion in Europe in 2020, with around one-third of that sum going into Germany, Handelsblatt reported.

The Chinese tech conglomerate is eyeing investments in autonomous driving startups, high-end manufacturers and industrial designers in the European country, which is considered one of Tencent's most important markets outside China.

Tencent Cloud Europe President Li Shiwei said the company has fewer than 20 employees at its European headquarters in Frankfurt, but headcount is expected to increase significantly in the next three years.

Developing cloud services in Europe could help Tencent add more European gaming titles to its platform and enable it to provide better game engagement for local and overseas players, according to analysts cited by the German newspaper.

Tencent's move to hike investments in Europe comes amid the trade conflicts between China and U.S., the report said.