China’s clampdown on Didi reflects regulators’ brewing concerns over cross-border data flows, with implications for digital trade, say Qian Jiwei and Deng Liuchun.

News Snapshot:

Commentary: Didi’s troubles with China should be everyone’s business SINGAPORE: It was a hard-won victory when China’s major ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing [raised US$4.4 billion](/news/china-s-didi-worth-us-68-billion-after-us-debut-15129414) via the initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange in June. The tech titan had spent close to a decade fending off Uber and merging with local competitor Kuaidi Dache to keep investors happy and the cash flowing into a billion-dollar losing business. But in the first quarter of 2021, Didi’s balance sheets turned green, the first time since 2018. The iron was hot, it was time to strike. After all, the...