Chinese authorities have given ride-hailing group Didi Chuxing permission to sign up new customers after an
investigation forced its app offline, indicating that Beijing’s crackdown on the country’s internet businesses is drawing to a close as the government works to revive economic growth.The reprieve comes after the group was forced to delist from the New York Stock Exchange in June last year, less than 12 months after its debut. The opening of a regulatory probe in July 2021 ended a run of Chinese companies raising billions of dollars on Wall Street.
«For more than a year our company has earnestly co-operated with the national security review and handled seriously the problems the review found, carrying out a comprehensive rectification,» the group said. Chinese regulators eventually forced the business to delist, saddling US investors with large losses and weighing on Japan’s SoftBank, the group’s largest shareholder. The Cyberspace Administration of China in July fined the group more than Rmb8bn over «serious» and «vile» breaches of the country’s data security laws.
Didi has said it will vie for a listing in Hong Kong after the conclusion of the regulatory probe. The company’s shares trade over the counter in the US.
Didi’s retrenchment has opened up competition for new participants, including Cao Cao Mobility and T3 Chuxing, to fill its place.
Last week, the chair of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Guo Shuqing, said efforts to «rectify the financial businesses of 14 platform companies» had «already basically finished», with only minor issues left to resolve.
The rehabilitation of Didi, which previously had millions of drivers across China, comes as Beijing refocuses its efforts on boosting the economy after nearly three years of Covid-19 curbs.
Guo said the government would help its internet groups «fully display their capabilities in bolstering growth, job creation and global competitiveness».
I think this trend will continue. China doesn't afford to keep it's major companies in the dark, not making money.
ReplyDeleteConsidering the situation in China, with Covid doing the rounds and people being scared and not having enough money to pay their bills, this measure was to be expected. Many more will/should follow very soon.
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