Wenting He analyses China’s financial and tech regulation
The Conversation Australia and New Zealand webpage.
Wenting He, one of our research project team members, published an analysis titled "Is life getting better for China’s tech billionaires?" in The Conversation on 20 September 2024. Her piece discusses how the fortunes of China's tech billionaires, including Pony Ma, have been shaped by the context of Chinese authorities’ shifting policies towards the private sector. For instance, under Xi Jinping’s leadership, China has tightened regulations on the finance-tech industry, slowing the growth of Tencent, the company co-founded by Ma.
Wenting argues that central to the shifts in China's policy interests towards the private sector is Chinese authorities' distinct commitment to developing a "socialist market economy," where the market serves as an instrument of the state for achieving its shifting political, economic, and developmental goals. Wenting argues that cases such as Pony Ma reclaiming the title of China’s richest person are evidence of Xi Jinping's attempts to revitalise the private sector to boost China's slowing economic growth. However, this does not imply that a policy environment more favourable to the private sector will persist indefinitely. It remains subject to the Chinese authorities' evolving ideas on market development—whether the market is viewed as a positive force for economic growth and national strength, or as a potential threat that could crowd out the state’s economic authority and lead to economic and political instability.
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