China Warns Tech Bigwigs

China’s tech majors have been warned to change financial business practices that are deemed risky and violative of anti-trust rules. No less than 13 tech firms including ByteDance, Tencent Holdings, Didi Chuxing, JD.com and others were summoned by China’s Central Bank and the insurance, securities and forex regulators and ordered to de-link their payment system from some financial products. They were also told to bring their online lending and deposit-taking businesses in line with regulatory requirements.

Financial regulators say many of these companies are offering financial services without proper licenses and engaging in unfair competition. The new crackdown follows action against the Ant Group earlier this month following a government investigation.