China’s cyberspace watchdog wants to foster a “warmer” relationship between internet enterprises and the government, a senior official said on Friday, the latest verbal assurance to the industry despite a long and severe regulatory crackdown. Niu Yibing, vice president of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), said at a press conference that the agency is supporting the healthy development of the sector and, in enforcing regulations, wants to create a “healthy, get-to-the-top, empowering, entrepreneurial environment.” .
The CAC was among the Chinese regulators that launched an unprecedented crackdown on the country’s tech giants in the late 2020s. The campaign overturned long-standing industry practices, set new rules for how companies should do business, and cost companies billions of dollars in market value.
Regulators facing a slowing economy have not announced new rules this year at the pace of last year, while companies have remained cautious, with several giants such as Alibaba Group and Tencent cutting new investments and laying off thousands of workers. .
Some of the biggest issues worrying investors include new rules that took effect in February requiring security reviews for Chinese companies with data on more than 1 million users before listing their shares overseas.
Sun Weimin, head of the regulator’s Cybersecurity Coordination Bureau, said the agency was supporting domestic companies seeking listings abroad and that the review was to ensure no data was involved that could be misused by foreign governments.
There is also no final word on the saga of Chinese ride-hailing Didi Global, which was the subject of a CAC-led probe that forced the ride-hailing leader out of New York and foreign investors within a year of its debut. Be wary of China’s tech sector.
Didi was fined $1.2 billion (roughly Rs 9,600 crore) last month for violating data security rules, but it is unclear whether its apps will be allowed back on app stores or whether it can resume new user registrations.
Sun said the CAC is monitoring Didi’s repair work and the regulator will continue to work to root out hidden security threats and punish any behavior that threatens national security or data security.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
