China’s tech crackdown may mean nationalising data
China is going further than any other country to rein its tech giants with regulators slapping huge fines on some for abuse of market dominance
24 April 2021 - 08:23
As President Xi Jinping targets China’s huge tech giants, the big question now is how he will get them to share key data as part of a sweeping plan to transform the world’s second-biggest economy.
Until recently, China’s mega-firms, such as Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, have operated in a similar way to US counterparts Facebook and Alphabet, harnessing user data to refine an expanding array of digital services. Since more data leads to better products, the tech platforms often become natural monopolies — giving them enormous wealth and power that also opens the door for abuses...
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