'Uncertainty and confusion'
Regulatory scrutiny was one of Alibaba's headaches in 2021. But it was also facing a number of other issues, including uncertainty around the strength of the Chinese economy that was trying to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic and rising competition.
In particular, newer companies like Pinduoduo and even Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, were capturing attention in China in e-commerce.
In March 2023, Alibaba — a sprawling company that does everything from food delivery to cloud computing and movies — decided to split into six separate business groups, each with the ability to raise outside funding and go public. Alibaba thought the move would make these units more agile.