Derailing of Jack Ma’s Ant IPO Shows Xi Jinping’s in Charge (1)

China’s move to abruptly halt the world’s biggest stock-market debut sends global investors a clear message: Any financial opening will only be done on terms that benefit President Xi Jinping and the Communist Party.

Policy makers in Beijing shocked the investment world on Tuesday by suspending an initial public offering by Ant Group Co., a fintech company owned by billionaire Jack Ma -- China’s second-richest man. The decision came just two days before shares were set to trade in a listing that attracted at least $3 trillion of orders from individual investors.

The timing of the decision showed once again ...