China's technology ministry has announced a three-year action plan to expand the country's cybersecurity industry, which it expects to be worth more than $38 billion by 2023, according to Reuters.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's new strategy comes as China tightens its control on the country's technology industry, as seen by its regulatory investigation of ride-hailing company Didi Global.
Following its first public offering, or initial public offering, on the New York Stock Exchange June 30, the business was valued at $68 billion.
However, Chinese officials started a cybersecurity review of the company and said that new customers would be barred from registering during the investigation. The Cyberspace Administration of China then ordered Didi's app to be withdrawn from domestic mobile app stores.
In addition, the agency has ordered two other tech-based companies, Uber-like trucking startup Full Truck Alliance and Kanzhun, which connects job seekers with hiring organizations via a mobile app, to stop user registrations and be subject to security inspections, citing risks to "national data security."
The initial public offering was a tremendous triumph for Didi Global, which had beaten Uber in the Chinese market to become the country's ride-hailing king.
It raised $4.4 billion in what was the largest public debut for a Chinese business on the world's premier capital market this year.
The exhilaration, though, was brief.
Two days later, the administration revealed its cybersecurity investigation against Didi Global, causing the company's stock price to drop.
"China has attached high importance to data as President Xi believes that there is no national security without data security," Henry Gao, associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, told the South China Morning Post.
"The emphasis is to make sure that 'important data' does not fall into the wrong hands, which is why Didi was investigated in the current case."
