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Stuff like this is why China will never be able to achieve its full potential. I'm not saying they won't become successful, unfortunately it is only a matter o

Stuff like this is why China will never be able to achieve its full potential. I'm not saying they won't become successful, unfortunately it is only a matter of time until they eclipse the U.S. as the world's biggest economy (having 1.3 billion citizens and not having to waste money on R&D wink wink tends to help also), however they are still holding themselves back and not managing to utilize their full potential.

powerapple 6y ago
I see this as China's advantage. The government is super flexible. There were 3k fintech p2p lending companies in last few years, because it is a new thing, the government don't know how to regulate it. Rather than waiting for regulation, it allows companies to run, and slowly put out regulation to fix problems. There are 15 fintech p2p lending companies now. The policy does not come out just for Ant, I am sure it has been for a few months at least in preparation. Ma definitely knew this is coming, that's why Ant is rushing to IPO now. In government, there might be people supporting relax regulation on finance industry, and people supporting more restrict regulation. Although I am sure Ant group's business is very profit, I don't really like how they push a credit card culture to young people. I would argue a loan is not something should be done in a few seconds, and that is not something you should be proud of.
Barrin92 6y ago
Letting financial markets and lending spiral out of control just for the sake of having a mega IPO on public display to the world is a horrible idea. I actually see this move as a good sign that Chinese governance is still very functional. They're putting the health of the financial system ahead of their image as the new finance superstar, it would have been easy to just let it go through to show off China's financial independence. Letting unregulated finance run rampart isn't a signal of achieving your full potential. It's a fairly new development maybe from the 80s onward.

powerapple 6y ago

I see this as China's advantage. The government is super flexible. There were 3k fintech p2p lending companies in last few years, because it is a new thing, the government don't know how to regulate it. Rather than waiting for regulation, it allows companies to run, and slowly put out regulation to fix problems. There are 15 fintech p2p lending companies now. The policy does not come out just for Ant, I am sure it has been for a few months at least in preparation. Ma definitely knew this is coming, that's why Ant is rushing to IPO now. In government, there might be people supporting relax regulation on finance industry, and people supporting more restrict regulation. Although I am sure Ant group's business is very profit, I don't really like how they push a credit card culture to young people. I would argue a loan is not something should be done in a few seconds, and that is not something you should be proud of.

Barrin92 6y ago

Letting financial markets and lending spiral out of control just for the sake of having a mega IPO on public display to the world is a horrible idea. I actually see this move as a good sign that Chinese governance is still very functional. They're putting the health of the financial system ahead of their image as the new finance superstar, it would have been easy to just let it go through to show off China's financial independence. Letting unregulated finance run rampart isn't a signal of achieving your full potential. It's a fairly new development maybe from the 80s onward.