Is it the end of Chinese tech titans' heyday?
Domestic regulations and US sanctions mean that major Internet firms will have to restructure or rebuild their business models to ensure long-term stable growth from now on.
Add BT as a preferred source
THE Alibaba Group received a record US$2.8 billion fine from China's anti-monopoly regulator, its State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said on April 10, as a result of an anti-monopoly investigation. The tech giant said it accepted the penalty "with sincerity". This indicates that the anti-monopoly probe into the group, which started from December 2020, has drawn to a close.
Alibaba chief executive officer Daniel Zhang said it would introduce new measures to lower barriers to entry and take actions to gradually reduce merchants' operational costs on its platforms, ensuring the fairness of trading and competition and promoting the sound development of Internet platform economies.
Meanwhile, Alibaba's stock price experienced a rally and shot up more than 9 per cent two days after the fine announcement, achieving the biggest one-day gain in four years. Morgan Stanley mentioned that the fine lifted a major overhang on the group and shifted the market's attention back to fundamentals.
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
