China’s regulators may look to ban data-heavy companies from pursing IPOs in the US.
Like the US, China is looking to reign in the power and influence of its Big Tech firms. Companies with access to large quantities of data are particularly important to the country, and have already been pawns in the trade war between Beijing and Washington. TikTok is one example, with the US trying to force a sale under threat of ban, and China taking steps to restrict the export of the kind of algorithms TikTok relies on.
China’s latest move is in the form of proposed rules that would keep data-heavy companies from going public in the US, according to The Wall Street Journal. Such a move is sure to be unpopular with many companies looking to cash in on an IPO, but China clearly wants to keep what it considers to be sensitive technologies in-country.
It remains to be seen if there will be any retaliation or fallout from Washington.