Chinese authorities have ordered Tencent, the world’s largest video game publisher, to coordinate with them every new mobile app release and every update to existing apps, CNBC reported.
The authorities say that the tightening of requirements for the largest technology company in China is associated with numerous violations of the rules for working with customer personal data. Tencent will now forward information on upcoming app launches and updates to the PRC Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Each request will take up to seven days to process.
The Chinese authorities have begun to exert serious pressure on the country’s technology sector since last fall. The first wave of pressure, many analysts consider the investigation that began at the end of 2020 against the founder of the Internet giant Alibaba, Jack Ma. Following the investigation, Alibaba was fined $ 2.8 billion for “abuse of dominance.”
A new phase of pressure began in June 2021, when the antitrust authority launched an investigation into Didi Global, all applications of which were temporarily removed from the country’s online stores. Investigations were launched against other representatives of the Chinese IT sector. It was reported that ByteDance, which owns the popular social network TikTok, refused to hold an IPO abroad, fearing sanctions from the Chinese authorities. And in August, the authorities suspended the IPO of 42 Chinese technology companies at once on exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen. In addition, at the end of August, children’s access to online games was severely restricted, leaving them only three hours a week to play.
Last week, China’s General Administration for Market Control and Regulation fined five companies 500,000 yuan ($ 78,200) for non-compliance with antitrust laws. The perpetrators included Alibaba, Tencent, Didi, Baidu and one of China’s largest retailers, Suning.
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