Ant Group has shared just a fraction of its consumer data with China’s central bank, defying intense government pressure to hand over more information after it was forced to pull its record $37bn initial public offering last year.
The data dispute is the latest front in a fight between Beijing and the financial technology group founded by Jack Ma, the country’s best-known entrepreneur, after officials halted the company’s IPO days before it was set to list in November.
Beijing’s intervention followed a speech by Ma in which he sharply criticised China’s regulators and state-owned banks. The billionaire, who previously founded ecommerce group Alibaba, has largely disappeared from public view since making the remarks. His fight with the authorities is the most prominent example of the growing tensions between the state and China’s private sector as President Xi Jinping seeks to exert tighter control over the economy.