Xi’s revenge on Jack Ma

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba was criticized Chinese government regulatory policies in December 2020. Chinese government was stopped one of the world’s largest IPOs of Ant Group which is sister company of Alibaba. 

Chinese government ordered probe on Alibaba exclusive dealing agreement that violated Chinese monopoly laws. After completing the probe, Chinese regulators have imposed a record $2.78 billion fine on the Alibaba Group, capping a months-long probe into the homegrown e-commerce giant’s dealings and troubles with the government that had raised questions about the future of its billionaire founder Jack Ma.

Chinese tech giant has agreed to pay a record fine imposed by the country’s anti-monopoly regulator. The fine, equal to 4 per cent of Alibaba’s 2019 revenue but shy of the 10 per cent maximum stipulated by China’s antitrust law. It’s surprised that Alibaba accepted the ruling and waived its right to appeal, or hold a public hearing. Chinese regulators said that record fine to Alibaba for abusing market position foe years. It is the largest anti-monopoly penalty ever imposed by the Chinese authorities. They found Alibaba’s exclusive dealing agreement was troublesome for government. The e-commerce giant abused its dominant position in the market since 2015.

Authorities in China signaled last year that they were becoming concerned by the scale of the country’s leading tech giants. Jack Ma’s criticisms on Chinese regulatory cause frustration to Chinese Communist Party which more than willing to tap into that resentment. Xi wants to control home based tech companies. Chinese tech firms are a powerful force in the country and Xi is keen to regulate them. Alibaba is not first company, Chinese regulatory authorities had previously fined 12 major companies like Tencent, Baidu and Didi Chuxing for violating anti-monopoly rules in March 2021.