Jack Ma Crackdown Casts a Chill on China’s Tech Entrepreneurs

In barely 40 years, China has dramatically opened up its economy and become one of the world’s primary growth engines. Now, President Xi Jinping is making ambitious plans to pull ahead of rivals by turning his country into a digital powerhouse. But Xi’s drive toward tech dominance is being threatened by an unexpected speed bump: China’s forceful crackdown on Jack Ma’s business empire.

The abrupt fall from grace of the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. co-founder has cast a chill over parts of China’s technology sector, according to local entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, even as Xi prepares to pour trillions ...