Chinese EV makers plunge as investors watch Beijing's regulatory squeeze tighten across industries

• Chinese EV maker stocks plunged as investors continued to mull Beijing's regulatory squeeze on its corporations.
• Xpeng dropped nearly 17%, while Nio fell as much as 10% Tuesday. Li Auto and Niu Technologies also tumbled.
• While there was no new regulation directed towards electric-vehicle makers, the downward movements in stock prices appear to be a part of a broader sell-off in US listed Chinese stocks.

Chinese EV makers plunged Tuesday as investors continued to mull over Beijing's regulatory squeeze that has tightened across industries and rattled global markets.

Shares of Xpeng dropped nearly 17%, while Nio fell as much as 10% Tuesday. Meanwhile, Li Auto dropped as much as 14%, and Niu Technologies shed 16%.

While there was no new regulation directed towards the country's electric-vehicle makers, the downward movements in stock prices appear to be a part of a broader sell-off in US-listed Chinese stocks.

China's increased scrutiny on certain businesses began late 2020 following the abrupt cancellation of Ant Group's IPO. A clampdown on the fintech giant then spread to Alibaba and Tencent earlier this year, with both getting hit with anti-monopoly measures and fines.

Since then, newly public ride-hailing firm Didi has been hit with regulatory actions by China, which has cited data-security concerns. Regulation that could prevent publicly-listed companies from teaching school curriculum has also hit Chinese education companies hard in recent days.

Beijing's crackdowns on its technology and education sectors have erased $769 billion in value from U.S.-listed Chinese stocks in the last five months, according to Bloomberg data.