Alibaba Tech Crackdown Eases

Alibaba's Hong Kong-listed shares rose by 3% on Monday as investors hope that the yearslong scrutiny of its financial affiliate, Ant Group, is ending. Chinese regulators issued a fine of 7.12 billion yuan ($985 million) to Ant Group on Friday, which could indicate the conclusion of Beijing's crackdown on domestic tech companies. This follows the halting of Ant Group's initial public offering in late 2020 and Alibaba's $2.8 billion antitrust fine in 2021. Chinese regulators stated that most outstanding issues related to platform companies' financial businesses have been resolved and that the domestic tech industry will see "normalized supervision. Ant Group recently announced a share buyback that values the company at $78.53 billion, lower than its $315 billion valuation during its failed 2020 listing. The buyback has raised questions about the company's plans for an IPO shortly, given the stated justifications for the buyback.