China’s onslaught on Jack Ma’s empire is far from over: the country’s regulators have ordered Ma’s-founded Alibaba subsidiary Ant Group to downsize its business. In particular, they ordered the company to return as a payment provider to its origin. Ant Group started as Alipay, which became China’s largest digital payment platform, although it eventually expanded into investment and savings accounts, as well as loan, insurance and wealth management services. Pan Gongsheng, the deputy governor of the Chinese central bank, described the services as “illegal” and said the company should “correct” these activities. As The guardian noted, these services are the group’s most profitable and fastest growing divisions.
Gongsheng lists all the steps that Ant Group should take according to the order of Chinese regulators in a release posted on the bank’s official website. These requirements include banning unfair competition, improving corporate governance and ensuring that everything it does is “in accordance with the law.” The company said The guardian in a statement that it would form a “correction working group” to implement the requirements. A spokesman explained: