Alibaba Group Holding Limited is headquartered in Hangzhou, China
Photographer: Kilai Shane / Bloomberg
Photographer: Kilai Shane / Bloomberg
China began investigating alleged monopoly practices Billionaire Jack Mana convened a high-level meeting on financial rules to increase scrutiny on the two pillars of the Internet empire, Alibaba Group Holding Limited and Affiliate Ant Group Group Co.
The State Administration for Market Regulation is investigating Alibaba, the antitrust watchdog said in a statement without elaborating. Regulators, including the central bank and the banking watchdog, will do so separately Strict financial rules, which now pose a threat to the development of the world’s largest financial online financial services pay, call the affiliate Ant at a meeting with the intention of enforcing more and more stringent financial rules at home. Ants A statement on its official WeChat account said it would study and comply with all requirements.
Once considered the drivers of economic prosperity and the country’s technological prowess, Alibaba and its rivals Tencent Holdings Ltd. is facing increasing pressure from regulators after gathering millions of users and gaining influence in almost every aspect of daily life in China. Shares Softbank Group Corp., Alibaba’s largest shareholder, rallied in Tokyo with a 2.7% lower turnover. Alibaba’s Hong Kong stock Slide 3.4%.
Investors are divided over how far Beijing will go after Alibaba as Asia’s largest corporation after Tencent — and its compatriots such as Jinping’s government prepare to roll out new anti-monopoly laws. The country’s leaders have said little about the plan to tighten them or why they have decided to act now. The draft rules, announced in November, give the government an unusually wide latitude to curb tech entrepreneurs like Ma, who recently enjoyed an unusual amount of freedom to expand their empires.
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The influential Alibaba co-founder has disappeared from the public eye since the ant’s initial public offering was canceled. In early December, with its empire under regulatory scrutiny, the government advised a person closely acquainted with China Inc.’s weather emergence to stay in the country, a person familiar with the matter said. Alibaba representatives were not immediately available for comment.
The country’s Internet ecosystem – protected from long-standing competition from the likes of Google and Facebook – is dominated by two companies, Alibaba and Tencent, covering a large part of the country in areas ranging from AI to digital. Finance. His patron has also created a new pay generation of Titans including food and travel giant Metuan and Didi Chuksing – China Uber. Those who prosper beyond their aura, the biggest is the ticket ok-owner Byddance Ltd., rarely seen.
Anti-monopoly rules now threaten to upset the situation with a range of possible consequences, ranging from a benign view of penalties. Split Industry leaders. Various agencies in Beijing now appear to be coordinating their efforts – a bad sign for the Internet sector.
“Of all the regulatory hurdles, this is by far the longest,” said Mark Tanner, managing director of Shanghai-based consultancy China Skinny. “China has streamlined many bureaucracies so that it is now easier for different regulatory bodies to work together.”
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Internet rulers of China
Tencent, Alibaba and Ant Group have invested in a wide range of Chinese startups, ranging from social media to online to online commerce.
Sources: Bloomberg, CB Insights, Crunchbase
(Updates with ant response from the second paragraph)
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