China's Tech Crackdown Ends: Alibaba and Tencent Shares Soar

Shares of Alibaba and Tencent rose in Hong Kong as investors bet that China's regulatory crackdown on the technology sector may be coming to an end. This comes after the $984 million fine imposed on Jack Ma-founded Ant Group, which led to the company announcing a share buyback. The buyback, valued at a 75% discount to Ant's abandoned IPO plan, is seen as providing liquidity and certainty to investors. The Chinese authorities also fined Tencent's online payment platform, Tenpay, nearly $415 million. The People's Bank of China stated that most of the problems in platform companies' financial businesses have been rectified, signaling a shift towards overall industry regulation. Analysts view this as a milestone for a clearer regulatory environment for China's internet companies.