Hey. Brady here.
Confusion and consternation spread among China’s tech circles yesterday when there was chatter that ByteDance had dismantled its investment arm.
The reaction was justified. If you’ve been following KrASIA’s coverage, then you know that tech conglomerates are being knee-capped in ways that are limiting their reach. If this was happening to ByteDance, then what about other companies, which hold so many stakes in domestic and foreign businesses?
The development was basically confirmed when ByteDance issued a response in the early afternoon on Wednesday, saying that it was redistributing staff from its prolific investment arm to other lines of business.
At the moment, it isn’t clear if the same might happen to other companies. There will surely be clearer rules and guidelines issued by China’s internet regulator down the line. But for now, a chill wind is blowing through the corridors in every tech firm’s headquarters.
Mengyuan had the story. You can read it here.
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