The People’s Bank of China (PBoC), the country’s central bank, has reportedly vowed to step up the “prudential oversight” of the financial activities of online platforms in the country.

The central bank has also pledged to tighten supervision in China’s payments sector, Bloomberg reported.

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In a statement citing its 2021 annual work conference, PBoC said that it will prevent monopolistic practices and the disorderly expansion of capital.

The regulator added that it will stiffen the scrutiny of China’s payments industry, and individual credit-scoring businesses, the report added.

The oversight also includes prohibiting unnecessary marketing of financial products.

The latest development comes a week after PBoC ordered online payments giant Ant Group to overhaul its businesses.

The watchdog mandated the company to shake up its consumer loans, insurance and wealth management operations and scale back to online payments.

To protect the personal information of customers, Ant was asked to overhaul its credit rating business as well.

Moreover, in November 2020, China slammed the brakes on Ant’s $37bn listing, which was poised to become the largest stock market debut worldwide.

Now, the authorities are also planning to push Ant to divest its equity investment in some finance companies.

The central bank added that it will continue providing small companies with financial support, which will allow them to postpone their loan repayments.

Additionally, PBoC has pledged to “guide financial resources to tilt toward green development, enhance the financial system’s ability to manage climate change-related risks, and promote the establishment of a carbon emission trading market to set a reasonable price for carbon emissions.”