Alibaba Shares Fall Over Stricter Regulatory Scrutiny Concerns

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Investing.com – Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Group Holding Ltd.’s (HK:9988) shares slid on Monday after its U.S. shares slid on Friday. Investors remained concerned about stricter regulatory scrutiny in China following Didi Global Inc.’s plan to delist in the U.S.

Alibaba’s Hong Kong shares slid 5.36% to HK$113 ($14.149) by 12:11 AM ET (5:11 AM GMT).

Didi announced a plan to delist from the New York Stock Exchange and prep a Hong Kong listing on Friday. Tighter regulatory scrutiny, a slowing economy, and increasing competition are also posing challenges for Alibaba and provided the impetus for the company’s reorganization of its international and domestic e-commerce business.

The new international digital commerce unit will now house Alibaba’s overseas consumer-facing and wholesale businesses, including AliExpress, Alibaba.com, and Lazada. The China digital commerce unit will house its domestic commerce businesses.

The reorganization also saw the appointment of a new chief financial officer, with deputy chief financial officer Toby Xu to succeed Maggie Wu in the post from April 2022 onwards.

Alibaba said it will focus on its three major strategies of domestic demand, globalization, and cloud computing moving forward.

Meanwhile, China Evergrande Group’s (HK:3333) debt woes continued as it hovered near a default.

The developer issued a statement on Friday saying its creditors had demanded $260 million and that it could not guarantee enough funds for coupon repayment, and the government of Guangdong summoned chairman Hui Ka Yan to express concern about the statement.

China Evergrande’s Hong Kong-listed shares tumbled 12.44% to HK$1.97.

The company has made three 11th-hour coupon payments in the past two months. A 30-day grace period ends on Monday for two dollar bond interest payments, a $41.9 million coupon for a note maturing in 2022, and $40.6 million of interest on a security due in 2023.