Birthplace of Alibaba U-turns to follow Chinese government’s antitrust crackdown
The central government in Beijing has pledged to double down its efforts on monopolies, and local cadres are making a timely U-turn to echo the call.
The coastal Zhejiang province, the birthplace and headquarters of Chinese technology giant Alibaba Group, needs to take up the responsibility and be at the “forefront” in promoting fair competition, regulatory innovation and enterprise competitiveness, provincial Chinese Communist Party chief Yuan Jiajun said at a recent high-level political gathering.
This was the second time in two days that Yuan has made similar comments, and is the first local political leader to pledge allegiance to the emerging policy priority that focuses on antitrust issues.
Adopting the language of the Central Economic Work Conference that concluded earlier this month, Yuan pointed out the need for the province to strengthen antitrust issues and prevent the “disorderly expansion of capital.” He mentioned the need for owning a political awareness to be a “window” that displays good development.
Yuan’s approach has marked a dramatic departure from earlier commitments. In April, the provincial government signed a strategic partnership agreement with Alibaba Group to incubate 100 streaming bases for local industries to advertise online, as well as nurturing five key industries to book more than 100 million sales orders.
Chinese authorities have recently targeted Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group, launching investigations into the monopolistic practices of its e-commerce platform and requiring its financial technology arm to undergo restructuring to meet new regulations.
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