Top 4 Chinese Tech Firms Shed $200 Billion As Regulators' Alibaba Probe Scares Away Investors

Alibaba led another day of high-octane selling that was driven by fears of further antitrust crackdowns, Bloomberg reported.

Large Chinese companies, including Alibaba and rivals Tencent, food delivery giant Meituan and retailer JD.com, have lost almost $200 billion in Hong Kong since regulators announced last week that they were investigating Alibaba's reported monopolistic practices, according to Bloomberg.

Alibaba saw its American depository receipts fall 13 percent during the last session, but they were fluctuating Monday (Dec. 28), the volume surging past the 12-month daily average, Bloomberg reported.

In Hong Kong, Alibaba saw a "fierce" 8 percent fall, according to Bloomberg, losing $270 billion in value since peaking in October. Tencent and Meituan also fell over 6 percent.

With the "significant" pullback, KeyBanc Capital Markets wrote that the buying situation was attractive and that the competitive landscape likely wouldn't change much for the company, per Bloomberg.

Regulators on Sunday (Dec. 27) recommended that Ant Group, the other online giant run by Jack Ma, scale back its operation and focus more on payments alone, and also to work on the adjacent insurance and money management business, with talks arising of an eventual breakup, Bloomberg reported.

Alibaba and other tech companies, which were once viewed as the leaders of a new technological era, now worry about regulators and government officials, who think the companies are gaining too much influence over media and education, according to Bloomberg.

PYMNTS reported that governments worldwide are "falling out of love" with Big Tech. It has happened in the U.S., with recent lawsuits against Google and other companies.

In China, the issue stems in part from Ma's statement that there is too much regulation against businesses like his, which is said to have angered government officials, including President Xi Jinping. Regulators have been warning companies against predatory pricing, misusing customer data and more.