Posted on 04/02/2021 6:19:00 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
China's unprecedented crackdown on billionaire businessman and Alibaba founder Jack Ma had raised quite a few eyebrows last year and made headlines all over the globe. Now, a news report suggests that the Chinese government may not be done with its crackdown on major tech firms in the country.
It has come to light that another Chinese businessman is facing scrutiny for not complying with the country's anti-trust rules. Ma Huateng (also known as Pony Ma), the founder of Tencent Holdings, met with China's anti-trust watchdog officials earlier this month to discuss compliance at his group.
Two people with direct knowledge confirmed details about the meeting to news agency Reuters. It may be noted that Tencent Holdings is China's biggest social media and video games company.
This is an indication that China, which cracked down on billionaire Jack Ma last year, could soon target other internet behemoths in the country.
The latest anti-trust crackdown on Pony Ma is proof that the Chinese government is committed to tightening the watch over native tech firms, some of which rank among the world's largest and most valuable.
China fears that such companies have built empires that could stifle competition and put consumer data and rights at risk. Three people who spoke to Reuters confirmed that Tencent is expected to face sharper anti-trust regulatory inquiries.
The report also claimed that the report between Chinese state authorities and Pony Ma has not been reported widely and comes ahead of Tencent's December quarter results due today.
The company's quarterly profit is expected to rise 42 per cent, according to analysts who have cited Refinitiv data. But Ma's meeting with Chinese state authorities could shift investor focus on regulatory developments.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Jack Ma has been buying land all over the US for the past 5 years - he owns 1000’s of acres in Washington State.
I strongly suspect that “anti-trust” is among the Party least concerns. Ma Yun (aka Jack Ma) had free rein over his businesses but abruptly disappeared from view for months after publicly criticizing Party policy. This activity concerning Ma Huateng may well be preventive efforts to remind businessmen that the Party is firmly in charge.
Xi Jinping and the Party leadership has methodically struck out at any possible potential challenge to his/their dominance. They have neutered already tame “official” churches, cracked down hard on unofficial churches, eliminated intra-party competitors on corruption charges, imprisioned Uyghurs wholesale, and aggressively tried to tame critics outside of mainland China through threats and intimidation.
This is just more of the same.
You will not criticize The Party.
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