What’s new: China’s Ministry of State Security and six other government agencies stationed officials inside Didi Chuxing Technology Co. Ltd. on Friday as part of a joint cybersecurity probe into the company, according to a statement (link in Chinese) from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).
The other agencies included the ministries of Public Security, Transport, Taxation, and Natural Resources, as well as the State Administration for Market Regulation, China’s top competition watchdog.
The share price of New York-listed Didi Global Inc., the group’s U.S.-listed arm, fell over 6% pre-market Friday.
The context: As one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies, Didi has been caught in a series of regulatory actions on national cybersecurity and personal data safety concerns in the wake of rushing its $4.4 billion U.S. IPO at the end of June.
Regulators sent warnings to the company before it filed the IPO, and several sources close to regulators have told Caixin that the timing of the listing was “not good” as China was in the midst of an extraordinary clampdown on companies that run online platforms.
Related: Cover Series: How Didi’s Rush to Raise Funds in U.S. Backfired (Part 1)
Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com) and editors Flynn Murphy (flynnmurphy@caixin.com) and Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
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