Three Year De-financialization Drive Behind Regulatory Pressure on Chinese Internet Giants

State media points to the Chinese government's ongoing campaign to "de-financialize" the business operations of leading Internet platforms as a key predecessor to the heavy regulatory pressure recently applied to online giants such as Ant Group and DiDi Chuxing. In 2018 Chinese regulators launched a "de-financialization" (去金融化) campaign that targeted domestic Internet companies, with the goal of pushing them to focus more on their role as tech service providers instead of seeking to act as independent financial institutions. In addition to focusing on platforms with an explicit fintech remit such as JD Finance, Du Xiaoman Financial, Xiaomi Payments and Ant…