China issued a set of new restrictions and warnings against the country’s tech sector and capital markets Monday. The announcements are part of the government’s intensifying efforts to rein in the private-sector’s influence following years of unbridled growth. Here’s what you need to know:
“Private equity” on notice: China’s top securities regulator said the government plans to root out venture capital and buyout funds that are being pitched as investment vehicles for the general public. The move is meant to curb embezzlement in the industry. It follows Beijing’s earlier pledge to bar private equity funds from raising money to invest in residential real estate developments, in a bid to stymie illegal capital flowing into the heated market.
Game over: School-aged kids are also feeling the government’s wrath. The National Press and Publication Administration issued strict new rules limiting minors to three hours of video gaming a week. It will be completely banned from Monday to Thursday, leaving minors to play just one hour a day—from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.—on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Gamers subject to the regulations will have to connect to a government-operated “anti-addiction” system using their real names and government-issued ID. China’s state-run news agency Xinhua said the rules, which take effect Wednesday, are meant to “effectively protect the physical and mental health of minors.”
“The earlier wide growth of internet platforms is gone forever,” Winston Ma, an adjunct professor of law at New York University focused on the global digital economy and a founding partner of CloudTree Ventures, told The Logic. “This will weigh heavily on the outlook for profits and valuations of the internet sector in China.”
The back story: China’s private sector is in the midst of a broad government crackdown, touching on everything from data privacy to private tutoring to antitrust issues. It started last November, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange suspending the public listing of Jack Ma’s fintech Ant Group. Since then, several high-profile tech firms, including ride-hailing company Didi and e-commerce giant Alibaba, have faced investigations and fines, while Beijing has also issued and announced plans for a string of more general laws to curb the sector’s autonomy. Ma said he doesn’t expect the clampdown to relent any time soon. “I would say it is risky at this point to bet that the Chinese regulators’ lawmaking is coming to the final phase for the internet industry that had little regulation last decade.”
The market reaction: The steady stream of regulations and warnings triggered a steep sell-off of Chinese tech stocks in recent months. The market rallied Monday (Shenzhen-based video-game titan Tencent not included), as some investors jumped at buying opportunities in newly discounted tech stocks.
Meanwhile, billionaire investor George Soros warned against funneling cash into Chinese stocks that may not meet environmental, social and governance standards and which are volatile right now. Chinese President Xi Jinping “regards all Chinese companies as instruments of a one-party state,” Soros wrote in a Financial Times op-ed. “Investors buying into the rally are facing a rude awakening.” In the article, Soros called out BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, and index maker MSCI for including Chinese firms in their ESG indices and promoting their stocks to investors.