China orders Alibaba founder Jack Ma to break up fintech empire

That's super interesting. Anywhere I can read more about this?

If this were true, why would China break up Jack Ma, weakening fintech presence for the immediate future?

Looks like this news is the best counter-example LOL. What a stereotype. There are tens of millions of small businesses around China and it’s technically impossible for them to be partially state owned. The common misperception is CCP will have a “branch” in your company —- that doesn’t mean anything related to ownership and it’s just symbolic most of times

I found an article on the subject and the following is an excerpt:

The answer to the question “does the party control a company?” is that it is impossible to tell. In the current environment, fewer foreign governments want to give Beijing the benefit of the doubt. If there was any question as to who was in charge of the economy and business, Xi’s local and overseas critics alike only have to take the Chinese leader at his word, that in private enterprises, as with state-owned firms and every institution in China, the party is the ultimate authority.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/25/china-business...