China likely to regulate rampant ICT giants

May 04, 2016, 08:00 am

print page small font big font

facebook share

tweet share


By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday - China's economic authority is drawing up a regulation to control ICT giants, who are trying to aggressively dominate Chinese internet and big data industry. The main targets would be Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, collectively known as the BAT which has grown into a dominant force.


Alibaba headquarters/ Source from Alibaba website


This is not an exaggeration considering the recent reports of Xinhua News and other state-run news agencies. Most of all, China started implementing its latest content regulations against Alibaba. It has frozen the partnership deal between Alibaba and the Walt Disney Company in the country. Besides, the Chinese government has sent a warning towards the company by declaring its intention to continue monitoring Alibaba's Taobao shopping site, which caused trouble for selling a huge amount of fake goods last year.


Besides, China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC), the country's key internet regulator, has decided to probe Baidu on Monday. This comes after the search engine giant was accused by a hospital patient, who since has died, of providing misleading medical treatment information. Wei Zexi, a student at Xidian University, died from a rare cancer after receiving expensive treatment at a hospital being advertised on Baidu.

Tencent is not an exception. Its recent major business activities are being carefully analyzed by the authorities. This is why industry insiders claim that the company would also be hit hard by the authorities soon. 


There are reasons why Chinese authorities have taken such powerful action against the ICT dinosaurs. First, it has to do with a perception that the stability of the regime could be shaken if they allow the ICT giants grow aggressively. Second, there is a perception that leaving the dinosaurs as it is would create monopolization of the related industries, and end up ruining the whole ecosystem.



#China #CAC #BAT #Baidu #Alibaba 
Copyright by Asiatoday