Once fêted at home and abroad as an emblem of China’s rising power, Alibaba has fallen on hard times. Spin-off Ant Group’s IPO was blocked at the eleventh hour by Xi Jinping’s personal fiat. Founder Jack Ma has all but...
The Supreme People’s Court has ruled the much-reviled “996” 72-hour work week illegal. The January death of a 22-year-old Pinduoduo employee after working a late shift focused public anger on 996 overtime culture,...
One of China’s most famous actresses has been summarily wiped from the internet as part of a “clean up” campaign aimed at celebrity culture. Zhao Wei, who starred in the über-popular TV drama “My Fair Princess,”...
An investigation into Hangzhou’s Party chief by the CCP’s powerful internal anti-corruption watchdog may be tied to Alibaba’s ongoing political woes. Over the weekend, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection...
Tech companies’ toxic cultures are the latest focus of China’s resurgent #MeToo movement. In an essay posted on internal Alibaba message boards and later leaked to the public, a female employee alleged that a client assaulted...
After decades of a nearly laissez-faire approach to tech regulation—stringent censorship measures aside—Chinese authorities have stepped up their scrutiny of the country’s internet giants. Regulators have cast a wide net...
After levying a record-breaking fine against Alibaba and requiring sweeping structural changes to Ant Group’s business earlier this month, Chinese regulators are showing no signs of letting up in their crackdown on big...
Six months after abruptly calling off fintech giant Ant Group’s IPO and launching an investigation into Alibaba for antitrust violations, Chinese regulators have at last announced their penalties against the two affiliated...
More than four months after a high profile crackdown on Jack Ma’s financial empire marked the beginning of a regulatory overhaul for China’s big tech companies, details of the penalties set to be imposed on internet...
Ideological orthodoxy has long been a top Party priority, and in recent years digital technology has been increasingly utilized by authorities toward that goal. Xuexi Qiangguo, a slick Alibaba-made app designed to teach users Xi...
News of the suspension of Ant Group’s initial public offering, shocking to business-world observers, received a warm welcome among some corners of Chinese youth. Many of the primary users of Ant Finance’s premier micro-lending...
As Chinese citizens stayed home over this Lunar New Year holiday amid concerns about the coronavirus, several major cities were busy doling out fresh handouts of China’s rapidly developing central bank digital currency. At...
On Thursday, January 14, Xinhua published a letter from Xi Jinping to former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, calling on Schultz to encourage the development of U.S.-China ties. Xi’s public letter to Schultz stands in marked...
A Pinduoduo employee’s suicide, the second work-related death at the company in as many weeks, and an Ele.me courier’s self-immolation have set the Chinese internet ablaze with discussion on labor conditions in the tech sector....
New announcements from China’s regulatory authorities have revealed broad plans to rein in Alibaba and Ant Group, as part of a concerted effort to strengthen state supervision of Jack Ma’s business empire. On...
Since late 2017, widespread media coverage has examined Xinjiang’s role as a “frontline laboratory for surveillance,” which has underpinned the ongoing mass detention campaign in the region. In many cases,...
A series of enforcement measures and proposed laws have drawn heightened attention to Beijing’s plans to rein in and remake the environment for big tech in China. Taken together, they reveal an unprecedented willingness by...
Several recent reports have exposed the extreme hardships imposed on Chinese delivery drivers by unforgiving algorithms, merciless delivery companies, and expectant consumers. At NPR this week, Emily Feng shadowed a young...
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