Alibaba, Tencent shares rise as investors bet China’s tech crackdown is over

HONG KONG: Alibaba Group and Tencent shares rose in Hong Kong on Monday after China’s $984 million fine against the Jack Ma-founded Ant Group appeared to signal the end of a regulatory crackdown on the country’s technology sector.

Following the penalty on Friday, the Alibaba affiliate announced an up to $6 billion share buyback that values the fintech at a 75% discount to the valuation touted in an abandoned initial public offering (IPO) plan, but is seen as providing liquidity and certainty to investors.

The abrupt shelving of Ant’s IPO in late 2020 had heralded the start of a wide-ranging clampdown by Beijing on industries ranging from technology to education, as regulators sought to assert their authority over what they deemed to be excesses and bad practices emerging from years of runaway growth.

The scrutiny left decades-old firms and startups alike operating in a new, uncertain environment and wiped billions off share prices, ensnaring companies from online retail giant Alibaba to gaming company Tencent and food delivery group Meituan.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares closed up 3.2%, beating a 0.6% rise for the benchmark Hang Seng index. Tencent shares closed up 0.7%.

Besides Ant, the Chinese authorities also announced on Friday they had fined Tencent’s online payment platform Tenpay nearly 3 billion yuan ($414.88 million) for committing violations in areas such as customer data management.