China Ends Tech Crackdown With Fines on Tencent, Ant Group

Chinese regulators imposed more than $1 billion in fines on tech giants Ant Group and Tencent Holdings, signalling an end to a crackdown on the sector that had wiped out billions in market value and derailed the world's biggest initial public offering. From a report: The People's Bank of China fined Ant 7.12 billion yuan ($984 million), wrapping more than two years of probes into the finance technology giant founded by billionaire Jack Ma. Tencent was levied a 2.99 billion yuan fine, according to statements from the central bank Friday. Shares in Ant affiliate Alibaba Group Holding soared more than 6% in New York trading. Investors are betting the fines draw a line under the multi-year crackdown that torpedoed Ant's planned IPO in 2020 and ensnared some of the nation's most powerful private firms in sectors from online education to gaming. It paves the way for Ant to revive growth and eventually resurrect plans for an IPO.

US-Centric Q

[Frank Burly]

Has the US crackdown on China's . . . piggyback strategy . . . forced the government to tolerate marginally-noncompliant innovators? IOW, has the US policy of protecting IP also paid dividends for Chinese institutions?

One thing for sure

[wakeboarder]

Is people will think twice before stating a tech company in China, if you are successful, the state will take your company away.

Re:

[_merlin]

Ant Group is basically a payday lender. It's the Uber of lenders. You know how Uber argues they don't need to follow the rules for taxi operators because they're a tech company, not a taxi operator? Ant Group argues they don't have to follow the rules for banks because they're a tech company, not a bank.

Now that aside, it's very hard to set up a bank in China without family connections. All the major banks have family ties to prominent "red families" (i.e. families of prominent Party members). But tryi

Re:

[phantomfive]

Ant Group is like Paypal, or like a competitor to the Visa payment processing network.

Re:

[_merlin]

No, that's AliPay - it's been around for years. This isn't about AliPay, it's about the Ant thing, which is basically just "it's not a bank, because it's an app".

Which is it?

[mackil]

So is this China backtracking while saving face, like their war on gaming earlier? Where they realized it was hurting Chinese businesses, declared victory saying the problem was fixed, and went back to business as usual?

Or has the problem been "fixed" by putting loyal CCP and PLA officers in charge?

The "problem" they had was that Ant Group was becoming more and more powerful, something the CCP cannot abide. In clamping down, the CCP hurt Chinese business in a time of economic uncertainty. Are those econ

Re:

[christoban]

This is just how China works. There is no one at the top ranks making decisions making decisions except Xi himself, so decisions are uninformed and take even longer than before to reverse.

But even before Xi gutted the ability of the state to make decisions, the CCP pretty much made them based purely on saving face (it needs to be seen as perfect in every way), and even minor criticism by someone as big as Jack Ma is harshly punished. In China, there are no social media stars, they are closely monitored an

Jack Ma

[christoban]

This is what Jack Ma gets for slightly criticizing the CCP. Anyone who invests in or does business with China or even buys Chinese high tech products is asking for a world of pain.

What Jack Ma gets for slightly criticizing the CCP

[terrorubic]

christoban [slashdot.org]: “This is what Jack Ma gets for slightly criticizing the CCP. Anyone who invests in or does business with China or even buys Chinese high tech products is asking for a world of pain.”

I concur +++

Investing money in China is just passing it to Xi

[The Snazster]

There is a rule that says never travel to places where you are not at the top of the food chain. In China, that's currently Xi and your money that ends up there is forfeit to his whims. (And so is your person if you go there yourself.)

Re:

[christoban]

When I worked at Microsoft, my boss was arrested in China and held in China for months to extract business concessions. Apparently it's how do they business, and it's to be expected.

Anyway, now they only send lawyers. Kidding. ;)