onsdag 4. august 2021

Xi’s tech clampdown signals end of a capitalist era

China is so keen to maintain control over its sprawling and expanding economy that it’s even willing to go communist. For all the claims from Communist Party bigwigs that President Xi Jinping isn’t on an anti-wealth crusade, the losses are too jarring to dismiss as “capitalism doing its thing.” Indeed, the more than US$1 trillion of market capitalization losses tied directly to Xi’s recent policies has China bulls mutating into China bears.

First, it was Jack Ma’s Ant Group getting stomped by Xi’s regulators. Then Didi Global and the $100 billion private tutoring sector got the boot. Next up is Tencent Holdings, China’s top social media and video game platform. On Tuesday, state media derided online gaming as “spiritual opium,” clearly riffing off a famous Mao Zedong-ism.