Ant Group said it will shut down Xianghubao, the company’s mutual aid healthcare platform, on January 28 amid Beijing’s regulatory crackdown on financial services, Bloomberg reported, citing an emailed statement.
The closure of the unit is the latest setback for the fintech giant after the company’s registration for its record US$35 billion IPO lapsed in October, adding to the skepticism around the firm’s return to the public market before 2023.
Similarly, Meituan and Tencent-backed insurance firm Waterdrop also shuttered their mutual aid units this year.
In September 2020, China’s banking and insurance regulator said internet mutual aid platforms have the features of commercial insurance but are unregulated, adding that their risks are also “not negligible,” as these platforms have a large number of users.
See also: With regulations sharply rising, Ant Group’s Asia investees are more important than ever
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Jaclyn Tiu
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