in Hong Kong plunged about 10% following
the announcement.
The antitrust guidelines came a week after
regulators suspended the market debut of
Ant Group, the world’s biggest online finance
platform, on Nov. 3. That followed a speech in
which Ma criticized regulators as backward and
an obstacle to business development.
The suspension of Ant’s IPO prompted
suggestions that Beijing might be punishing
Ma while also tightening controls on potentially
risky finance industries.
Ma has yet to publicly comment on the matter
since the suspension of Ant Group’s IPO.
Zhang succeeded Ma in 2019 as Alibaba’s
chairman, and concurrently holds the role of
CEO. Alibaba owns a third of Ant Group, with
Ma owning just over 50%, according to the Ant
Group prospectus.
“Supervision allows platform enterprises to
not only develop well on their own, but also
helps the sustainable and healthy development
of the entire society and creates innovation,”
Zhang said.
“As a member of China’s digital economy,
Alibaba is not only a participant and builder
of China’s digital economy era, but also a
beneficiary,” he said, adding that his company is
“full of gratitude for this era.”
Zhang said the success of Chinese internet
industries was due to government policies to
encourage innovation — a sharp departure from
Ma’s complaint that regulators were too focused
on risk and were failing to create opportunities
for young people.