China’s central bank vowed to keep its eye on monopolistic behaviors and consumer data security matters occurring on internet platforms. The move—claimed by regulators to be for fair competition—was to tap the wealth, said an observer.
The regulation will eliminate “unfair competitive practices” and better protect consumer rights, the governor said. The announcement affirmed an ongoing clampdown on industries involving privacy, data management, and antitrust.
Yet such legal loopholes have existed for a long time, Shi Huawei, a former financial planner at Guangzhou Bank of Communications, told The Epoch Times last Friday.
“[The Party] will turn a blind eye until it no longer wants to,” said Shi, describing the rapidly rising tech giants as homegrown crops ready to harvest “in various names.”
While regulators encourage businesses to take advantage of the legal system riddled with loopholes, Shi said holes would end in a dead-end.
The regime has been rolling out anti-monopoly and data security curbs since late 2020, drawing an end to the success stories of some decades-old firms, including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings, also known as WeChat’s operator.
In April, Alibaba was fined $2.8 billion over monopoly allegations. It came after regulators suspended the planned $37 billion listing of its financial technology affiliate Ant Group last November. The central bank also cut the Ant Group’s links to its payment services firm Alipay.
Beijing says anti-monopoly enforcement will be a priority through 2025.
Investor jitters have knocked more than $1.3 trillion off the total market value of tech giants.
