China Roundup: Ant Group may not launch IPO before 2023, and other news

Ant Group may not launch an IPO before 2023

• The registration for Ant Group’s record US$35 billion initial public offering lapsed on Wednesday, and bankers are supposedly skeptical that the fintech giant will return to the public market before 2023.
• The firm’s valuation estimates – which earlier soared as high as US$300 billion – have been trimmed by as much as two-thirds since its failed attempt at a stock market debut in late 2020.
• In April, Chinese authorities reportedly launched an enquiry into the speed with which Ant obtained listing approval – one of the many headwinds that Jack Ma-owned firm faced amid an industry-wide regulatory crackdown on tech giants in the country.

Jack Ma flies abroad for first time since tech crackdown

• Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma has reportedly flown to Spain in his first overseas trip since Beijing heightened scrutiny and tightened regulations around the ecommerce major.
• Ma has traveled to Spain for a series of business meetings, which included a tour of the agricultural industry, and environmental tech in the country.
• The heightened regulatory pressure cost Jack Ma the title of China’s richest man earlier this year. He has since made rare appearances in public, choosing to lie low instead.

TikTok parent ByteDance confirms fresh round of layoffs

• ByteDance has reportedly axed at least 100 jobs in Wenzhou – a move the firm’s human resource team terms a “normal business adjustment.”
• Workers assigned to sell ads for Douyin and Toutiao and fresh-graduate hires were also reportedly laid off. The company has also reportedly slashed about 30% to 70% of its staff in each major direct sales center and call center.
• In August, ByteDance fired hundreds of employees from its online education business as the wider after-school tutoring industry was hit by strict government restrictions.