Corruption investigators coming for platform monopolies?; Contract tracing highlights need for Common Prosperity

The CCDI 6th Plenum has released the communique from the meeting. The big platform companies should be worried.

Here are the most interesting differences I saw from the 2021 CCDI Plenum Communique:

Efforts will be made to investigate and deal with corruption behind disorderly expansion of capital and platform monopolies, and cut off the link between power and capital;

promote the prevention and resolution of hidden debt risks of local governments;

deepen special rectification of corruption in the fields of grain purchase and sale.

Clearly the top leadership believes there are problems in these areas. The inclusion of capital and platform monopolies is likely a signal there may be some investigations that roil the big tech firms this year. That makes sense, there has been official-business collusion in some of these firms, and it will get really interesting if this means going after some of the powerful political family interests in some of the big tech firms. No doubt this will spur lots of rumors, and it may add headline risk to some of the bigger firms.

The political language around Xi, "the two establishes" and "matters of national importance 国之大者" are a bit “heavier” this year, not a surprise given the political developments over the last year and that the 20th Party Congress is in a few months.

Today’s Essential Eight:

1. Signals from the CCDI Plenum Communique

2. Outbreak data

3. Contract tracing shows hard life of a migrant worker in Beijing

4. Developers far from out of the woods

5. Draft work report for the NPC

6. Worsening environment for the remaining Western journalists

7. US unlikely to lift China tariffs soon

8. A survey we will hear a lot about

Thanks for reading, I hope to see many of you in tomorrow’s weekly open thread.