Competition and Market Structure in China's Digital Economy: Evidence from the "Tech Crackdown" and Beyond

Growing global concern about concentrated market power in the digital economy has renewed interest in competition policy. This talk examines how market structure in China’s digital economy has evolved under a changing regulatory environment, while also introducing an emerging research agenda on the longer-term competitive dynamics of digital markets. It presents an empirical impact study of China’s recent “tech crackdown,” finding that the regulatory shift reduced concentration in the primary markets of dominant digital platforms, alongside a broader slowdown in market-capitalisation growth across China’s digital economy.

The talk also introduces a comparative research project on competition in the digital economies of China and the United States. I present preliminary results from research conducted here at HKU on changes in market structure and competition over the past fifteen years. I will also highlight conceptual and empirical questions where feedback would be valuable in guiding the next stage of the project.

Leonard Baum is a PhD candidate at the Hertie School in Berlin and a researcher-in-residence at the Law and Technology Centre of The University of Hong Kong (HKU). His dissertation examines competition and industrial policy in the digital economy from a comparative perspective, with a particular focus on the European Union, China, the United States, and India. Previously, Leonard worked as a Research Assistant to Prof. Joanna Bryson at the Centre for Digital Governance and as a Policy Advisor on labour and social policy for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). His professional experience also includes roles in the German Bundestag, the European Parliament, and consulting. He is currently working with OECD Digital Economy Fellow Brian Kahin on a book project exploring the intersection of the digital economy and public policy.

Moderator: Benjamin Chen, Associate Professor and Director of the Law and Technology Centre, The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law

To register, please go to https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?guest=Y&UEID=110329.

For inquiries, please contact Ms. Grace Chan at mcgrace@hku.hk / 3917 4727.