The report comes several months after Beijing began reining in the Chinese internet sector. Ma himself has been at the center of those efforts — regulators pulled a highly anticipated IPO for his company Ant Group, the financial affiliate of Alibaba (BABA), last year after he criticized the country's financial regulators and state-controlled banks. Since then, Ant Group has been forced to overhaul its operations, and Alibaba (BABA) and other tech firms have been investigated over concerns about monopolistic behavior and other consumer rights issues.