BEIJING (Reuters), – China’s government expanded its practice to take minority shares in private businesses beyond the ones that specialize in online content and news, according two sources familiar with the matter.

One person said that it had made a de-facto “golden stake” agreement with Full Truck Alliance Co Ltd to acquire a special management stake.

Troubled Didi Global Inc was also in discussions about a gold share for its ride-hailing core business, according to a third source.

Beijing started taking shares of private media companies, usually 1%, in order to gain influence. This was five years ago. These stakes can be bought by companies or government-backed funds that gain board seats and/or voting rights to make key business decisions.

The sources claimed that authorities now want to be able to control large data troves owned by some companies. Furthermore, they believe the data can be seen as an asset national at risk, and could even be misused by foreign countries.

One person who has direct experience of the state investor’s handling of such investments said that “they have expanded their attention to other businesses that possess strategically valuable data and are considered operators in critical information infrastructure.”

It is not common to have evidence of a gold share before the ownership has been publicly registered. This can sometimes take up to a year. According to the source, more golden shares will be discovered in companies with data rich businesses in due time. The person also stated that authorities are now willing to spotlight their ownership.

Another source claimed that a golden part was taken recently in an data-rich firm, but declined to reveal the name.

Reuters could not determine the number of data-rich companies authorities wanted to acquire a gold share.

Because of the sensitive nature and importance of this issue, sources were not able to be identified. Cyberspace Administration of China, is China’s internet regulator. ()The company did not reply to our request for comment.

Feng Chucheng from Beijing consultancy Plenum said that the golden shares were a “sword in Damocles” that hangs over firms with them. It is a reminder of data security being closely monitored by authorities.

They are being expanded in accordance with China’s stricter data protection stance. In September, a new law on data security was implemented. Other rules also came into force that require operators of crucial information infrastructures to perform security inspections and assess the risk.

TRANSPORT PLATFORMS FOR CROSSHAIRS

Full Truck Alliance announced in May that China Internet Investment Fund had been made a shareholder. According to one source, the fund is supported by the CAC. Its holding, which was taken around 2019 or 2020, is in essence a management stake arrangement.

Full Truck Alliance, and the CIIF declined to comment.

According to another source, Didi’s discussions about a gold share form part of a plan for business restructuring. After Didi, who angered Chinese regulators, continued with a U.S. IPO despite being requested to suspend it for cybersecurity reviews. Authorities ordered a complete takedown of Didi’s apps from the app stores in July.

Didi didn’t respond to our request for comments.

Full Truck Alliance as well as Didi have been listed on the United States Register. The CAC opened an investigation into Didi in July.

According to one source, U.S. listed firms and those trying to be U.S. listed are more likely get attention when authorities consider firms that they would like to own a management share in.

ONLINE OVERSIGHT

Chinese authorities are also focused on controlling online content. Two sources claimed that Spotify-like Ximalaya was in talks with a Shanghai government agency for a special management stake.

Ximalaya did not respond to our request for comment. The representatives of the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Radio and Television could not reach Ximalaya for comment.

The internet content sector has had to contend with tougher oversight since 2017 when rules were amended to make government-affiliated investments in “qualified online news and information providers” compulsory. In the same year, licenses were required for online media platforms to publish news.

One source claims that ByteDance (owner of TikTok as well as its Chinese sister app Douyin) agreed to a gold share in exchange for one its China subsidiaries. This was in late 2019 and one year after the original stake in TikTok was registered.

ByteDance didn’t respond to my request for comment.

The same source implied that firms would benefit from obtaining these licenses if they accepted a management stake.

Yidian Zixun news aggregators Qutoutiao (NASDAQ) sold shares to government-related entities, while Sina News (NASDAQ) sold one stake in an affiliate company.

Jinri Toutiao, ByteDance’s news aggregator Jinri Toutiao, and all three other news apps obtained operating licences in less than two years after they agreed to the golden shares.

According to a different source, board seats that are held by government officials do not necessarily have an impact on the day-to-day operation.

Wu Shugang from the CAC was appointed to the ByteDance board. This unit is where a CIIF subsidiary has its golden share. Wu does have an office at ByteDance in Beijing. However, Wu rarely goes to meetings. ByteDance is more likely to deal directly with Wu.

Wu was not available for comment by Reuters.