Tencent’s Pony Ma talks with antitrust authorities in Beijing, putting on a brave face amid new fintech rules
- Tencent confirmed a meeting between founder Pony Ma and Beijing’s antitrust authority, but the tech giant said the meeting was voluntary and a normal occurrence
- The prospect of tightening antitrust scrutiny in fintech and other areas has made investors skittish, pushing stock prices down as earnings continue to rise
Ma said during a conference call on Wednesday that Tencent is cooperating with regulators on compliance issues, including “reviewing some conditions in our past investments”, but he did not mention the meeting.
In response to a Reuters report about the meeting between Ma and the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) this month, Tencent president Martin Lau Chi-ping said during the conference call that it was a voluntary meeting and that the company discussed “a broad range of topics” with the regulatory agency.
“The main focus [of the meeting] is actually on creating a healthy environment for innovation to happen in China,” Lau said.
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Lau did not say who else attended the meeting or provide any additional details.