China targets Alipay in tech crackdown‘UNRULY GROWTH’: The Chinese government believes the technology industry’s monopoly power comes from its control of data and wants to end that, a source saidAFP, BEIJINGChinese regulators have ordered sweeping changes to the country’s biggest payment app Alipay (支付寶), as the Chinese Communist Party attempts to rein in “the unruly growth” of the tech giants. “The government believes big tech’s monopoly power comes from their control of data,” the source close to financial regulators told the newspaper. Ma’s business empire has been targeted in a wider crackdown on tech firms aimed at breaking monopolies and strengthening data security that has wiped billions off companies’ valuations. The ministry has summoned executives from the country’s online platforms to emphasize the need to stop shutting out each other’s services, Zhao said. However, it is unclear what actions regulators want the big tech firms to take, and by when.

Source: Taipei Times September 13, 2021 15:56 UTC