“You need to be very mindful of who ultimately controls regulations, who controls licensing of who’s in charge,” said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based Marbridge Consulting. “And if you forget and you start to be overly critical or take too much of a role that normally belongs to the party, then you’re going to get chopped down a notch or two.”
Beijing has moved to fundamentally overhaul Ma’s trillion-dollar internet empire since demolishing Ant’s $35 billion public offering in November, a record-breaking debut that was to have been the entrepreneur’s crowning achievement. Authorities then forced his online finance titan to cap loans and devise a plan to hive off its most lucrative businesses. The government also launched a probe into alleged anti-competitive practices at Alibaba. The billionaire has not been seen in public since November and his absence from the recent taping of an African TV program he created spurred speculation of his whereabout
Xi’s push against Jack Ma sparks new threat for China tech
The behavior of the Chinese Communist Party is sabotaging claims that firms in China are free from Beijing intervention
Bloomberg
Chinese tech companies did a pretty good job of convincing global investors that they operated independently from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), but Jack Ma (馬雲) has become a case study for the firms’ biggest skeptics.
Companies from Alibaba Group Holding to Tencent Holdings splashed out billions on overseas acquisitions, while developing apps and technologies that challenged Western rivals, with little or no state interference.
However, Beijing’s pursuit of Ma and his Ant Group after he criticized regulators arguably plays directly into the hands of China’s biggest critics in Washington, who have long asserted that no Chinese tech giant or entrepreneur is beyond the reach of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Now, Jack Ma has become a case study for the firms biggest skeptics.
Chinese tech companies did a pretty good job convincing global investors that they operated independently from the Communist Party. Now, Jack Ma has become a case study for the firms biggest skeptics.
Companies from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to Tencent Holdings Ltd. splashed out billions on overseas acquisitions while developing apps and technologies that challenged Western rivals, with little or no state interference. But Beijing s pursuit of Ma and his Ant Group Co. after he criticized regulators arguably plays directly into the hands of China s biggest critics in Washington, who have long asserted that no Chinese tech giant or entrepreneur is beyond the reach of Xi Jinping.
POLITICO
Why Silicon Valley could become tomorrow s Detroit
The San Francisco Bay Area s tech business models and government relationships will face challenges from all sides in 2021.
The YourCoast app is displayed on a smartphone Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, in San Francisco. | Eric Risberg/AP
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Dozens of tech hubs around the world have dreamed of nipping at Silicon Valley’s heels, but in 2020 those dreams are starting to look like reality.
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