China’s Alibaba Tightens Grip on Southeast Asia

[claireokc]

News Analysis China’s biggest e-commerce provider, Alibaba Group, is extending its digital payments—and information gathering—into southeast Asia. With a planned majority ownership of the 2C2P payments network, Alibaba’s Ant Group will increase its global payments reach, particularly in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. That’s a threat to America, because China’s financial services expansion in southeast Asia will make it more difficult for countries there to decisively break from Beijing’s increasingly powerful gravitational pull. On April 18, Alibaba’s Ant Group fintech unit announced a “strategic partnership” with 2C2P, which will “accelerate digital payment adoption and innovation.” According to the statement, “The partnership, upon completion, will see Ant Group becoming the majority shareholder of 2C2P.” ...

Source: https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-al ... 12667.html