Two days later, the People\u2019s Bank of China (PBOC) \u2013 China\u2019s central bank \u2013 also ordered Ant Group to separate its lending business from its mobile payment<\/a> platform Alipay. The PBOC further asked the company to apply for a credit reporting certificate. The resulting restructuring will probably reduce Ant to a payment services platform, depriving it of its lucrative digital finance business which last year contributed nearly two-thirds of its revenue.<\/p>\n The Western media has portrayed Alibaba\u2019s woes mostly as a dramatic clash of egos at the top of Chinese politics and business. Both the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal have published pieces attributing the recent crackdown to the conflict between Alibaba founder Jack Ma\u2019s pugnacious personality and Chinese leader Xi Jinping\u2019s focus on loyalty.<\/p>\n Yet while personal animosities might have played a role in recent developments, they provide an incomplete explanation for the regulatory activism that has been underway for some time regarding China\u2019s major tech companies. More dangerously, this narrative of warring egos suggests that political connections, and not regulatory compliance, remain the most important factor in deciding a company\u2019s fortunes in China.<\/p>\n A more accurate picture instead points towards the importance of an evolving regulatory environment<\/a> in which an increasingly modern legal framework, a more efficient bureaucracy and political concerns over the health of the Chinese economy, are all contributing to a far more active policing of China\u2019s major tech companies.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/lp-navigator.png\")
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