China launches anti-monopoly probe into tech giant Alibaba

Alibaba founder Jack Ma

Credit: AP

Chinese authorities have opened a competition investigation into Alibaba, the country’s biggest internet company, indicating that Beijing is tightening its grip on its technology giants.

The announcement from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, made on Thursday, comes months after Beijing forced Alibaba’s billionaire founder Jack Ma to pull a massive stock market listing of his fintech company Ant Group.

Regulators including China’s central bank also said they would demand discussions with Ant Group over consumer issues.

The moves signal a potential effort to limit the power of major internet companies in China as Beijing seeks greater control over the internet. Mr Ma had criticised Chinese regulators for stifling innovation shortly before Ant Group was due to raise around $34bn (£25bn) in Hong Kong and China, with regulators’ decision to pull the plug seen partly as a response to his comments.

China has sought to rein in its tech giants, recently announcing draft laws that would target predatory pricing or anti-competitive tactics. The push has been seen as a result of unease about power concentrating in the hands of a few internet firms. The country’s other major tech players include WeChat owner Tencent, search engine Baidu, and ecommerce company JD.com.

Profile | Jack Ma

Alibaba shares fell around 5pc in Hong Kong on Thursday’s news of an antitrust probe. Mr Ma is one of China’s best-known businessmen, founding Alibaba in 1999 and turning it into a huge success domestically and outside of China.

He resigned as Alibaba chairman in 2019 and has focused on Ant Group, which runs the Alipay app, a portal to Chinese consumers’ payments, savings and loans.

Alibaba has a 33pc stake in Ant Group and, along with Tencent, owns many of the internet properties that Chinese consumers use daily.