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Regulation
TechPolicy

China defends sweeping tech crackdown in meeting with Wall Street chiefs

  • A contingent of Wall Street executives held talks with top Chinese regulators in a meeting of the China-US Financial Round Table on Thursday
  • Beijing’s regulatory crackdown has erased US$1.5 trillion from Chinese stocks amid a broader sell-off at its most extreme

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A street sign for Wall Street is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on July 19, 2021. Photo: Reuters
Bloomberg

China’s top regulators defended their market-roiling crackdown on various industries in a meeting with Wall Street executives, while reassuring them the stricter rules are not aimed at stifling technology companies or the private sector.

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China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) vice-chairman Fang Xinghai said recent actions were to strengthen regulations for companies with consumer-facing platforms, and improve data privacy and national security, according to a person familiar with the talks, who asked to not be identified because the meeting was private.
Fang defended the moves, such as those aimed at the off-campus education and video gaming industries, as meant to reduce social anxiety.
Global investors have been unnerved by the regulatory onslaught from Beijing targeting its biggest technology companies and other industries as well as a push by President Xi Jinping to create “common prosperity”. Billions of dollars in potential profits are at stake for Wall Street, which has been expanding in China as the nation opens its financial markets to investment banks, wealth and money managers.
A view of the China Securities Regulatory Commission office building located at Financial Street in downtown Beijing. Photo: SCMP
A view of the China Securities Regulatory Commission office building located at Financial Street in downtown Beijing. Photo: SCMP
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The three-hour meeting of the China-US Financial Round Table on Thursday included the head of the People’s Bank of China, and executives from Goldman Sachs Group, Citadel and other Wall Street powerhouses, according to people familiar with the talks. The meeting marked the resumption of the round table that was first convened in September 2018.
The increased scrutiny on Chinese companies should not be interpreted as a decoupling from the US or international financial markets, Fang told the participants. Beijing remains committed to technology, he said.
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