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· Posted on
February 21, 2024

China wants to break up the nation's largest finance app, Alipay

If you think you're savage when it comes to Monopoly...the Chinese Government is taking things to a whole new level.

What's the key learning?

  • Alipay is a mobile payments superapp primarily used in China
  • The Chinese Government thinks Alipay has a monopoly because of its control over data
  • It's ordering Alipay to break up its business as part of its de-tycoonification plan
  • By getting big tech to turn over their data, the Chinese Government is hoping monopolies will crumble.

Background: Alipay is a mobile payments superapp primarily used in China. And this baby has more parts than The Fast & The Furious films. 

What happened: You can make in-store and online purchases via the app. And it's got a loans business too, with two lending units: Huabei (a credit card) and Jeibei (unsecured loans).

What else: The Chinese Government reckons Alipay has too much power - aka a monopoly - over the payments system. So, it wants to break off its lending unit...and hand over its user data to the Government. It's all part of its plan to de-tycoonify China.

So what's the key learning?

💡De-tycoonification is all about limiting the power of Chinese tech companies. And by getting big tech to turn over their data, the Chinese Government is hoping monopolies will crumble harder than Novak Djokovic at the US Open final.

💡China's growth has kind of hit pause...or at least slowed down. And the Government reckons anti-monopoly regulation will increase the country's productivity and help China's economic growth.

💡But also, it helps the Government maintain control in a Communist society. And, it ensures that wealthy entrepreneurs (*cough* Jack Ma *cough*) don't start wielding their power in the country.

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