This article only represents the author's own views.

JD.com Inc. (JD.US; 9618.HK) has touted a plan announced last week to spin off two of its units, saying the move will create opportunities for people who might want to invest in its property and industrial divisions as they prepare for separate IPOs. It added the plan will be good for JD.com as well because splitting off the two businesses will let it focus on its core e-commerce operations.

But a major unspoken subtext underlying the announcement, and a similar one just days earlier that saw rival Alibaba (BABA.US; 9988.HK) say it would split itself into six distinct business units, was whether such steps might appease Chinese regulators that have grown increasingly distrustful of the power wielded by the nation’s big tech companies.