China Cracks Down On Major US-Listed Companies

Chinese authorities have started investigating three major technology services following the ban of its leading ride-hailing platform Didi. This marks China’s latest attempt at cracking down on national data security, its latest front being privacy and cybersecurity.

On Monday, China's cybersecurity watchdog announced probes into major truck-hailing platforms Yunmanman and Huochebang, as well as China's largest online job listing site Boss Zhipin. New users cannot register for the three apps and Didi during the investigation.

Yunmanman and Huochebang merged in 2017 to create the Full Truck Alliance (YMM), which went public on June 22 on the New York Stock Exchange and is currently valued at $21 billion. Boss Zhipin’s parent company, Kanzhun (BZ), went public on June 11 and has a market cap of nearly $15 billion.

U.S. markets are closed Monday for Independence Day.

Officials said in their announcement to investigate these companies that cybersecurity reviews are a national security issue under Chinese law. However, Beijing has not specified what security and privacy problems led regulators to move against these software platforms.

The Cybersecurity Review Office said in a statement that the investigations are measures to "prevent national data security risks, maintain national security, and protect the public interest."

Full Truck Alliance said in a statement that it will actively cooperate with the probe and conduct a thorough check on its network security.