China's richest man criticizes tech giants and government failure
China's richest man criticizes tech giants and government failure
China's richest person has commented against online shopping platforms and accused them of initiating price competitions that have damaged a variety of companies and industries while the country is fighting with an economic decline.
criticism of Pinduoduo and the government
In extremely rare statements that were largely censored by the state media, Zhong Shanshan, founder of the beverage company Nongfu Springs, also aimed at the Chinese government and described it as "careless" because it failed to stop the trend towards aggressive price struggles.
It is unusual that Chinese entrepreneurs publicly express criticism of the government, and those who do this often have to expect consequences. During a visit to an East China region, Zhong was far from quoted. He addressed direct criticism of Pinduoduo, the popular e-commerce platform, which is owned by PDD Holdings and accused her of damage companies.price drop and its effects
"" Internet platforms have undermined our price system. In particular, the Pinduoduo price system has caused great damage to the Chinese brands and industries, "he was cited by the Paper by the state medium. "It is not just that bad money sells good money. It is an entire industry orientation and pricing has become industry orientation."
Pinduoduo has recorded enormous growth in recent years, partly due to its competitive pricing. In further statements about the same press conference, which were not reported by the state media, Zhong criticized the government for no longer taking this trend.
economic pressure on consumers
After the criticism of the Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma to China's banks and financial regulators in November 2020, the Ant Group, a financial subsidiary of Alibaba, was forced to withdraw over $ 37 billion at the last minute. Ma then retired from public life while Beijing started with a tough approach to the technology sector.
among the companies concerned was Pinduoduo, which was founded by Colin Huang in 2015. In just eight years, the startup, which is owned by Temu, has successfully benefited from a change in the consumption habits of the world's second largest economy.
price pressure on the market
Since the Chinese economy grows more slowly and the prospects for jobs are worse, people spend less - from food to electronics to cars. Discounts and special offers are offered across all brands, including western companies that mainly aim at premium markets. The effects are far -reaching.
Zhong’s statements come for the billionaire at the end of a difficult year. At the beginning of the year, he was faced with a wave of attacks by nationalists who accused him of a lack of patriotism. This campaign affected the share price of his beverage company and damaged its sales.
Bloomberg reported that the campaign wiped off hundreds of billions from Jing on Nongfus market capitalization and Zhong lost its place at the head of the Chinese richest list to Huang in August, which still holds shares in the company that he founded. But Zhong has now recaptured first place, with a wealth of $ 52.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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