Jack Ma’s double-whammy marks the end of China tech’s golden age

People walk past the Tao Doll mascot near the Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd headquarters in Hangzhou, China. The unprecedented series of regulatory actions since encapsulates how Beijing is now intent on reining in its Internet and fintech giants, a broad campaign that’s wiped roughly US$200bil (RM825.56bil) off Alibaba’s valuation since October. — Bloomberg

The full implications of Beijing’s rapid-fire moves against Jack Ma’s Internet empire in recent days won’t be apparent for weeks, but one lesson is already clear: The glory days for China’s technology giants are over.

The country’s government imprinted its authority indelibly on the country’s technology industry in the span of a few days. In landmark announcements, it slapped a record US$2.8bil (RM11.56bil) fine on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd for abusing its market dominance, then ordered an overhaul of Ant Group Co. On Tuesday, regulators summoned 34 of the country’s largest companies from Tencent Holdings Ltd to TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd, warning them “the red line of laws cannot be touched”.