Short video group Kuaishou shed billions of dollars in market value after Chinese state media called for more regulation of the sector, in the latest warning to the country’s technology companies amid a regulatory assault.
The commentary in Chinese Communist party mouthpiece People’s Daily on Friday accused online video platforms of negatively influencing the nation’s youth, who have flocked to stars boosted by short video platforms run by Kuaishou and rival ByteDance.
Shares in Kuaishou fell as much as 11.8 per cent in morning trading in Hong Kong before paring losses to be down 4.7 per cent as the market closed. That came on top of a record drop of 15.3 per cent on Thursday after a post-initial public offering lock-up of its shares expired and Kuaishou announced it would shut down its US-focused short video app that competed with ByteDance’s TikTok.