Despite an easing of regulatory campaigns targeting major technology firms, new regulations and private sector oversight suggest Beijing plans to manage technological development with a firm hand for the foreseeable future. These changes will increase compliance and reputational risks for Chinese technology firms and their Western partners. Since early January, Chinese regulators and Communist Party leaders have called off long-standing investigations into the tech sector, partly to kickstart economic growth following China's economic slowdown of 2022. First, the head of China's Central Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) noted on Jan. 7 that the campaign to "rectify the financial businesses of 14 platform companies" had concluded. And the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection revealed on Jan. 10 that it had removed the platform economy from its list of focus areas for anti-corruption investigations in 2023. State investigations into particular companies have also wrapped up lately, as authorities on Jan. 13...
