Temasek Sells Off Chinese Tech Stocks Amid Crackdown by Beijing

(Bloomberg) -- Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte. sold shares of U.S.-listed Chinese technology companies from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Didi Global Inc. to online education providers amid regulatory crackdowns.

Temasek cut 16% of its stake in e-commerce giant Alibaba and 11% of its shares in ride-hailing service Didi, according to a 13F filing for the three months ended Sept. 30. It exited Chinese search engine operator Baidu Inc., TAL Education Group, New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. and jobs service provider Kanzhun Ltd.

The decrease comes as global investors weigh whether China’s once-booming internet market remains investable after the government introduced rules that weakened business prospects. Temasek, which managed assets worth S$381 billion ($282 billion) as of March, told Bloomberg in September that it was holding off on further Chinese tech platform investments as it sought more certainty on the fallout from the regulatory tightening.

At the time, Chief Investment Strategist Rohit Sipahimalani said Temasek was “fairly comfortable with the positions we hold.” 

Temasek rebalances its portfolio from time to time in the usual course of business, a company representative said. 

The government investment company’s disclosed holdings fell 4.5% in value in the third quarter to $28.1 billion, according to a Bloomberg analysis of the filing. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index advanced 8.2%.

It’s unclear if some of the transactions represent U.S.-listed shares being exchanged for their Hong Kong-traded equivalents at dual-listed companies like Alibaba -- something Temasek has done in the past. Its sovereign peer GIC Pte. told Bloomberg last month that it was weighing portfolio changes in response to China’s wide-ranging curbs.

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