China To Clamp Down On Its Own Internet Giants

C: Gigi - Unsplash

Chinese authorities are looking to restrict the business freedoms currently enjoyed by some of the nation’s largest Internet companies.

In a 22-page missive issued by Beijing’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), authorities in the communist country are making a tentative bid to ban anti-competitive behaviour in the country’s booming tech sector.

Initial moves by authorities in Beijing will work towards limiting the sharing of consumer data and larger online companies working together at the expense of smaller, lesser known rivals.

It understood local Internet giants including Ant Group and Alibaba, in addition to Tencent could be amongst the hardest hit firms to be affected.

Popular Chinese food delivery service Meituan is also a name being targeted sources indicate.

In a bizarre twist, the SAMR is also turning to the general public for feedback on its proposals.

Following the Tuesday announcement, from the opening of the markets on Wednesday, China based tech shares were noticeably down across the board after starting on a downward slope late yesterday.

An estimated US$200 billion was wiped from the combined portfolios of some of the nation’s biggest tech companies – those listed above in addition to JD.com, and Xiaomi.

According to the latest estimates available, combined, JD.com and Alibaba are involved in over 75% of all e-commerce transactions in the country, with Alibaba providing mobile services to over 50% of Chinese.

Ant Group is another dominant force in its field with over 1.2 billion Chinese said to be using its ‘Alipay’ financial services arm for digital payments.

Lisa Conklin

Lisa is an Eastender from London in her second year in Taipei where she teaches English, and in her spare time writes poetry. She is a practicing vegan and lover of yoga who lives 'off-grid' as much as possible. She is our weekend editor.