The Government of China has acquired Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. asked to get rid of its media assets as officials become more concerned about the swing of the technology giant over public opinion in the country, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussions on the matter have been going on since early this year after Chinese regulators revised a list of media assets owned by the Hangzhou head office, the main business of which is online retail. Officials were appalled at how big Alibaba’s media interests had become, and asked the company to come up with a plan to significantly curtail media ownership, the people said.
Founded by billionaire Jack Ma, Alibaba has compiled a formidable portfolio of media assets over the years, ranging from print, broadcast, digital, social media and advertising. Notable businesses include the Twitter-like Weibo platform and several popular Chinese digital and print news outlets, as well as the South China Morning Post, the leading English-language newspaper in Hong Kong. Several of these shares are in U.S. listed companies.
Such influence is seen as serious challenges for the Chinese Communist Party and its own powerful propaganda apparatus, the people said.
The party’s propaganda department did not respond to a faxed request for comment.