Xi Ends Cina's Golden Era

 

 Jack Ma downfall spells end of China's golden age

The lackluster 3% growth that the Chinese economy recorded last year cannot be solely blamed on the pandemic. President Xi Jinping's economic policies -- which put philosophy before economic rationality -- also deserve much of the blame.
 
The latest example is the handling of Alibaba. In recent weeks, Chinese Communist Party officials have been visiting the company's headquarters in Zhejiang province, highlighting the importance of the platform economy. But this does not signal that Xi's administration has changed its views on big tech. The visit of the local party secretary came three days after Alibaba's affiliated financial company Ant Group announced that founder Jack Ma was giving up control of the company.
 
It was comparable to the bloodless takeover of Edo Castle in 1868, which ended the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan. Ma, who had been critical of the government's financial regulations, had to surrender Alibaba Castle without putting up resistance.
 
Under Xi, tech companies that yield tremendous influence, due to the huge amount of data they handle, will not be given the freedom to do what they want or say what they desire.
 
Along with the just-announced decline of population, it spells the end of a three-decade-long golden age for the country's economy.