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Party-managed capitals to crush and shore up ‘kings’|Lui Yue

蘋果日報 2020/12/18 09:17


On November 3, Xi Jinping gave an order in person to call a halt to Ant Group’s IPO, followed by his putting forward the idea of “intensification of anti-monopoly and prevention of capitals increasing in disorder” on December 11 at a meeting held by the Politburo. It suggests the Chinese Communist Party(CCP) is about to “do something” about capitals.
On December 14, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced punishment on three Chinese corporates: after investigation into three cases of “no declaration of concentration of business operators according to law”, including acquisition of Intime’s equity by Alibaba Group Holding Limited, acquisition of New Classics Media Corporation’s equity by China Literature Limited(subsidiary of Tencent Holdings Ltd) and acquisition of China Post Smart Logistics Technology’s equity by Hive Box(affiliate to S.F. Express Company), administrative punishment of 500 thousand yuan is exercised on each of the three corporates.

Xi Jinping has qualms about colossal tech corporates

On December 11 when the Politburo meeting was held, Peoples’ Daily Review, a WeChat account, posted a commentary titled “Behind disputes over ‘community group buying’: more expectations of innovation by internet technology magnates”, which cites Xi Jinping’s remarks verbatim: “The internet magnates mastering a huge volume of data and advanced algorithm are supposed to undertake more responsibility for, be in further pursuit and have more accomplishments of innovations in technology. They should not be concerned about only the logistic of a few bundles of cabbage and kilograms of fruits…” Accordingly, the public opinion inside and outside China surmises Xi wants the technology magnates to zero in on microchips with their investment. Is he so well-meaning as to do this?
The fact is Xi Jinping has particular qualms about the internet, which he is unfamiliar with and has little professional know-how about. In the first year after he came into power, he remarked “point the sword at the internet” at the national conference on publicity on August 19, 2013. Brushing aside the speech draft, he said: the internet could spell ‘disaster for the CCP and the state that could kill the party and the country’”, followed by stringent control over news coverage and public opinion on the internet, which shocked the entire realm of ideology. Seven years later, with Alipay, WeChat Pay, Didi Taxi, SF Express and “Double 11” systematically entering and taking over the economy and daily life, he feels that Tomorrow, Hainan and Anbang, the three giant private enterprises he has crushed, are different from the internet magnates that do not only have great powers but a great deal of clout in the market.
Think tank members told him: Apart from the arms of the government and the market, there is this “third arm” – the internet. There are three features of the platforms created by technology magnates: first, a vertical and horizontal community of interests founded on a platform created by capital aggregation that gives rise to a closed-circuit industry ecology across markets; second, providing operators and users on the platform with public goods such as a trading floor, regulations, payment methods, finance, supervision, etc. in exchange for something bigger than a return as a financial indicator, which is aimed at domination of the market; third, the key elements of the platform being put together and flowing according to a certain operation with an obscure price mechanism. The platforms founders are already “the kings”.
As early as in mid-November, Xu Lin, a deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CCP Central Committee, fired at private capitals in China: “resolutely preventing anyone from diluting party leadership in the name of development by merging, resolutely taking precautions against the risk of capitals manipulating public opinion.” On December 14, the official from the State Administration for Market Regulation in charge of anti-monopoly affairs expressed that the internet industry is not a lawless enclave, and all the enterprises should strictly comply with the anti-monopoly laws, preserving fair competition in the market. Party media openly said: the attributes of socialism should not be forgotten at all times. Xi Jinping placing restrictions on Chinese internet capitals can be named crushing “the kings” campaign.
On December 15, the Xinhua News Agency released its year-end feature article titled “Open up a new prospect against the wind on the crest of the wave”, praising Xi Jinping for making China “one of the major economies all around the world that materialize positive growth rate”. A few hours ago, electors of Electoral College in different states cast their votes pursuant to the electoral proceedings in America. The mainstream media meted out controversial votes to Biden again, who declared victory one more time. While the pro-establishment meritocrats from the two big parties within the establishment, Wall Street, technology magnates and the mainstream media outlets can claim “kingship” and the marriage of them and the capitals from China, or in order words, the former being shored up by the latter in the US, is being exposed, a flesh crocodile emperor, the CCP, can be found lying in ambush in American wetlands for long.
(Lui Yue, veteran Chinese journalist)
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