Obviously, solidarity does not pay on the stock market.

Shares of e-commerce site Alibaba plunged 4% on Friday.

The reason for this sudden drop in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange?

The concern of investors after the Chinese giant promised to invest 100 billion yuan (13 billion euros) in charitable causes. 

This initiative comes in response to the call of President Xi Jinping who had asked in August the most fortunate of his compatriots to work more for "common prosperity", in a country where the meteoric economic boom of recent decades has deepened. inequalities.

In the sights of the authorities in recent months for a variety of reasons, from the abusive collection of personal data to accusations of monopoly practices, Alibaba has decided to answer the call.

Alibaba already fined 2.3 billion euros

The group "looks forward to making its contribution to achieving common prosperity," Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba, said in a statement. The e-commerce giant has announced that it wants to invest in the fields of technological innovation, SMEs or the well-being of precarious workers. "This donation does not guarantee Alibaba that it will not be targeted by other measures by regulators," analyst Castor Pang of Core-Pacific Yamaichi told Bloomberg News.

Chinese regulators are currently taking over tech companies after years of relatively lax legislation.

In the spring, Alibaba was fined 2.3 billion euros for obstructing competition.

Its charismatic founder, Jack Ma, has observed great discretion for many months.

The turn of the screw has extended in recent months to the sectors of online video games, entertainment and private institutes offering tutoring.

Tech giants targeted by critics

Critics have also descended on the tech giants because of the often unpaid overtime as well as the precarious working conditions of the meal deliverers. 

Alibaba's € 13 billion is double the amount pledged last month by Tencent, the Chinese video game giant, which said it wanted to support low wages, rural development and equality in education.

Alibaba also announced the creation of a 20 billion yuan (2.6 billion euros) development fund in Zhejiang province (east), the group's headquarters and "pilot zone" of the "common prosperity" program. ".

High-Tech

E-commerce: VAT will be applied on products from countries outside the EU from July

World

China billionaire Jack Ma resurfaces after two and a half months of silence

  • stock Exchange

  • Trade

  • Economy

  • Ecommerce

  • China

  • Ali Baba