Why Are Alibaba, Baidu, NetEase And Other Chinese Tech Shares Trading Lower Today?

Chinese regulators are temporarily halting approvals for new online games, delivering a big blow to Tencent Holdings Ltd TCEHY, NetEase Inc NTES, Bilibili Inc BILI, Bloomberg reported based on SCMP.
Tencent and NetEase led a selloff of Chinese tech stocks in Hong Kong following reports of further oversight of the industry and the need to deemphasize profits.
The officials called the companies to step up supervision and start checks on illegal behavior, Bloomberg reports. The companies were also asked to remove “obscene and violent content” and avoid “unhealthy tendencies, like money-worship and effeminacy.”
The Chinese state media warned investors against blindly buying Chinese stocks, hoping to profit from the so-called Metaverse, Reuters reports.
The transport ministry also discussed intensifying a crackdown on illegal behavior in the ride-hailing industry and the online platforms still using non-compliant vehicles and drivers.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA is trading lower by 3.39% at $164.92 in the premarket session on the last check Thursday. Baidu Inc BIDU is trading lower by 2.57% at $158.5.
JD.com Inc JD is trading lower by 4.53% at $78.03. DiDi Global Inc DIDI is trading lower by 3.45% at $8.67, while NTES is down 6.91% at $84.51. BILI is trading lower by 6.98% at $79.81.