According to Ant, one of the fintech giant's consumer-lending platforms, Huabei, lowered credit limits for some younger borrowers "to promote more rational spending habits", or generally in line with what Beijing hopes to achieve even as it floods the economy with its own trillions in new credit.

In any case, Ma's peace offering was summarily ignored because just hours later, we learned that China had formally kicked off an investigation into alleged monopolistic practices at Alibaba - and unlike in the US, an anti-trust probe is almost certain to result in a breakup of the company in the not too distant future - escalating a campaign of scrutiny over the country's internet giants. In response BABA shared tumbled double digits, dropping to the lowest level since July.