by Ethan Yang
The American Institute for Economic Research
On April 30, 2021, Seeking Alpha wrote the following about an escalating regulatory onslaught in China:
“Taking a page from the Ant Group playbook, China has imposed sweeping restrictions on the fast-growing financial divisions of 13 companies including Tencent (OTCPK:TCEHY), ByteDance (BDNCE), JD.com (NASDAQ:JD), Meituan (OTCPK:MPNGF) and Didi (DIDI). The requirements include stricter compliance when listing abroad, as well as curbs on information monopolies and the gathering of personal data. Companies must also restructure their financial units into holding companies and sever “improper links” between their existing payments services and financial products.”
This move by Chinese state regulators seems to be riding on the momentum from actions taken against Chinese billionaire Jack Ma back in late 2020. Chinese security regulators took aggressive action against the innovative Chinese financial tech firm Ant Group by canceling their IPO following Ma’s criticism of the Chinese banking system. Ma subsequently disappeared from the public eye for months after being summoned to meet with state authorities.