Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
CONTROLLING BIG TECH: China’s plan would also require Ant Group to turn over the user data that underpins its lending decisions to a new credit scoring joint -venture, which would be partly state owned. Picture: Bloomberg/Qilai Shen
Divide and control
Beijing wants to break up Alipay, the 1-billion-plus-user super-app owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, and create a separate app for the company’s highly profitable loans business. Chinese regulators have already ordered Ant to separate the back end of its two lending businesses, Huabei, similar to a traditional credit card, and Jiebei, which makes small unsecured loans, from the rest of its offerings and bring in outside shareholders.
Financial Times
Debt contagion
Investors are confronting the growing possibility that highly indebted Chinese property developer Evergrande Group will default, a debacle that could cascade across global markets. Evergrande counts big names among its investors, including Allianz and BlackRock. Last week, the company said its liquidity issues, including delayed payments to suppliers, meant projects were being suspended. The news has exposed the perilous state of China’s heavily leveraged property sector, which makes up more than 28% of its economy.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
GLOBAL MARKETS: Divide and control
Divide and control
Beijing wants to break up Alipay, the 1-billion-plus-user super-app owned by Jack Ma’s Ant Group, and create a separate app for the company’s highly profitable loans business. Chinese regulators have already ordered Ant to separate the back end of its two lending businesses, Huabei, similar to a traditional credit card, and Jiebei, which makes small unsecured loans, from the rest of its offerings and bring in outside shareholders.
Financial Times
Debt contagion
Investors are confronting the growing possibility that highly indebted Chinese property developer Evergrande Group will default, a debacle that could cascade across global markets. Evergrande counts big names among its investors, including Allianz and BlackRock. Last week, the company said its liquidity issues, including delayed payments to suppliers, meant projects were being suspended. The news has exposed the perilous state of China’s heavily leveraged property sector, which makes up more than 28% of its economy.
Financial Times
PIETER HUNDERSMARCK: China’s tech crackdown offers chance for risk-savvy investors
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.