China will continue to curb monopolistic behaviour among internet platform companies and strengthen the protection of consumer privacy and data security, central bank governor Yi Gang said.
The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) will work with anti-monopoly authorities to prevent firms from abusing dominant market positions and actively deal with new monopoly problems, Yi said at a meeting of the Bank for International Settlements on Thursday.
China has launched a regulatory crackdown on a broad range of industries, leaving startups and decades-old firms alike operating in a new, uncertain environment. Among them, Ant Financial – the fintech arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba – was fined and forced to abandon a dual listing in New York and Hong Kong that would have been a record IPO.
China will implement regulations that require platform companies engaged in financial business to establish financial holding companies, according to Yi’s speech published on the central bank’s website.
• Reuters with additional editing by Mark McCord
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