Chinese internet companies have pulled an Alibaba internet browser from their app stores a day after President Xi Jinping warned that Beijing’s crackdown on big tech companies was just beginning, reported the Financial Times.
The decision to remove the popular UC Browser is the latest hit to the empire of Jack Ma, China’s most famous entrepreneur, after regulators scuppered the record $37 billion initial public offering of Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial technology affiliate.
The decision came a day after a Communist party leadership meeting chaired by the president issued an unusually blunt warning to the country’s tech sector over its growing size and influence, said the FT.
“Some platform companies are growing in an inappropriate manner and therefore bear risks. It is a considerable problem that the current regulatory regime has failed to adjust” to the rise of these groups, the minutes of the meeting said.