Alibaba browser pulled from Chinese app stores

Chinese internet companies have pulled an Alibaba internet browser from their app stores a day after President Xi Jinping warned that Beijing’s crackdown on big tech companies was just beginning.

The decision to remove the popular UC Browser is the latest hit to the empire of Jack Ma, China’s most famous entrepreneur, after regulators scuppered the record $37bn initial public offering of Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial technology affiliate. Ma has barely been seen in public since the listing was pulled last November, as Xi tightens Beijing’s grip on the economy.

The decision came a day after a Communist party leadership meeting chaired by the president issued an unusually blunt warning to the country’s tech sector over its growing size and influence.

“Some platform companies are growing in an inappropriate manner and therefore bear risks. It is a considerable problem that the current regulatory regime has failed to adjust” to the rise of these groups, the minutes of the meeting said.

Regulators will “step up” efforts to improve the regulation of China’s big internet companies, the minutes added.

Ecommerce group Alibaba, which accounts for about one-tenth of retail sales in the country, has been the prime target of the crackdown. 

The Communist party is especially concerned with the group’s media investments and its ability to influence public opinion. Officials have discussed forcing Alibaba to divest some of its media stakes, such as a minority holding in financial news provider Yicai Media Group and Weibo, the microblogging platform, according to one person familiar with the matter.

Alibaba also owns the South China Morning Post, the Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper.

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Beijing had asked Alibaba to dispose of media assets.

China’s market regulator has also finalised rules for online transactions that will prohibit companies from making exclusive deals with merchants to sell on their platforms rather than those of rivals, a practice that is at the centre of an antitrust investigation into Alibaba. The regulations will come into force from May and will ban ecommerce platforms from penalising merchants for selling on other sites.

The effort against UC Browser came after a programme on state-owned broadcaster CCTV targeted the tech industry on China’s consumer rights day, an annual event when the channel investigates alleged malpractice and documents the findings on a primetime show. 

This year’s programme included a segment on misleading online medical advertising.

UC Browser was shown to allow private hospitals to bid for the names of China’s large well-known hospitals in keyword searches, leading potential patients to their websites instead of the public hospitals they intended to visit.

Most of China’s Android app stores, including those operated by Chinese technology groups Huawei, Xiaomi and Tencent, have blocked downloads or removed the browser.

Having an app taken down for a period of time is a common punishment in China for companies deemed to have broken the rules.

UCWeb, the Alibaba unit that operates the browser, apologised for the illegal adverts and pledged to strengthen oversight of the app.

Alibaba did not respond to a request for comment.

“It’s a difficult practice to change. Merchants are still afraid of the power platforms hold,” said Li Chengdong, head of Haitun, a tech-focused think-tank. “If the government levies a huge fine on Ali, and they admit their mistakes, maybe it’ll change.”

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