A year ago Alibaba founder Jack Ma gave a speech that would upend his business empire.
Ma told an audience in Shanghai that it was time to “change the pawnshop mentality of today’s finance.” His comments were provocative both in content and timing, coming less than two weeks before his giant fintech company Ant Group was scheduled to go public.
Regulators pulled the plug on Ant’s IPO two days before the due date, in turn setting off China’s year of ‘crackdowns’ — a wide-ranging series of regulatory and political moves that have reined in some of China’s most valuable companies.
This week, The Wire looks back at the year of upheaval for private enterprises in China, taking stock of which sectors have been affected, and the companies and institutions to watch.
Data: Media reports
FINTECH
What happened: After Ant’s IPO was shelved, China’s central bank told it to rectify violations across its product lineup. The e-payments plat
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