Alibaba antitrust fears drive Chinese tech selloff

Alibaba and its compatriots face increasing pressure from regulators worried about the speed with which they’re amassing clout in sensitive arenas such as media and education and gaining influence over the daily lives of hundreds of millions. — Bloomberg

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd led a second day of frenetic selling among China’s largest tech firms, driven by fears that antitrust scrutiny will spread beyond Jack Ma’s Internet empire and engulf the country’s most powerful corporations.

Alibaba and its three largest rivals – Tencent Holdings Ltd, food delivery giant Meituan and JD.com Inc – have shed nearly US$200bil (RM810bil) over two sessions since Dec 24, when regulators revealed an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at Ma’s signature company. That marked the formal start of the Communist Party’s crackdown on not just Alibaba but also, potentially, the wider and increasingly influential tech sphere.