(Yicai Global) April 29 -- Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and other Chinese internet-based firms surged over 10 percent today on the Hong Kong stock exchange after the Chinese government said it will promote the healthy development of the platform economy.

Alibaba’s stock price [HKG:9988] closed up 15.7 percent at HKD102.10 (USD13.01), Tencent [HKG:0700] soared 11.1 percent to HKD377.40, JD.com [HKG:9618] jumped 15.7 percent to HKD265.60 and Meituan [HKG:3690] leapt 15.5 percent to HKD172.00.

It is imperative that the country promotes the healthy development of the platform economy, completes its rectification, implements regular supervision and introduces specific measures to support it, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee said at a meeting today.

The platform economy has developed so fast in the past 10 years that there are many problems affecting its sustainability, Pan Helin, executive dean of the Digital Economy Institute at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, told Yicai Global. Thus the formulation of fair competition rules, better data security and increased consumer rights protection are necessary for its long-term healthy development.

In January, nine government authorities, including macro-economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission, issued a document proposing to optimize the development of the platform economy while strengthening supervision, with measures including reducing the operating costs of participants, establishing an orderly and open platform ecology and protecting the rights and interests of participants in new employment forms, such as takeout deliverymen and ride-hailing drivers.

Last year, China launched a wide-ranging crackdown against the internet-based sector to rein it in. This led to a sharp drop in the stock prices of many firms, with Hangzhou-based Alibaba losing nearly half of its value over the course of last year and both Tencent and JD.com falling almost 20 percent.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor