Alibaba’s breakup plan lifts hopes China’s tech crackdown is ending

Shares in Alibaba Group and other leading Chinese tech firms jumped on Wednesday, as investors cheered an unprecedented revamp of the Jack Ma-founded company as heralding the beginning of the end to Beijing’s crackdown on the sector.

Alibaba said on Tuesday it was planning to split into six units and explore fundraisings or listings for most of them, in the biggest restructuring of the technology conglomerate in its 24-year history.