China’s wealthiest people have enjoyed a special position in Chinese society but this is all changing. Under President Xi Jinping totalitarianism has worsened and the country’s tech giants are expected to toe the line or suffer the consequences. Authorities are tightening the regulatory leash on internet companies and their founders, with investors questioning why the crackdown is coming now and who will be next. First it was Alibaba and Tencent, and now it’s Didi Chuxing. This story by Nicolas Martin is published by Deutsche Welle. Here is an excerpt:

Maximilian Mayer thinks being among China’s richest people may not be an advantage these days. The global technology and China expert at Bonn University is convinced the country’s political leadership is “determined to crack down on its tech elite.”  

As an example, he points to ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing as the latest technology company to fall victim to the Communist Party “crusade,” which came despite Didi’s successful public listing in New York recently — the second-biggest IPO in the United States by a company based in China.

And indeed, there’s a long list of so-called platform economy companies from China that, for one reason or another, have drawn the ire of the government recently. It includes, for example, online truck logistics firms Yunmanman and Huochebang — both part of China’s leading online commercial freight platform, the Full Truck Alliance — as well as online recruitment site BossZhipin.

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