Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

China market regulator fines 12 firms for violating anti-monopoly law

Published 03/11/2021, 11:39 PM
Updated 03/12/2021, 05:01 AM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of Baidu is seen during the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A logo of Baidu is seen during the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's market regulator said on Friday it had fined 12 companies related to 10 deals that violated anti-monopoly rules.

The companies included Baidu Inc (NASDAQ:BIDU), Tencent Holdings (OTC:TCEHY), Didi Chuxing, SoftBank and a ByteDance-backed firm, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said in a statement on Friday.

The companies were fined 500,000 yuan ($77,000) each for behaviour that caused market concentration but did not exclude all competition from other companies, SAMR said.

Tencent said in a statement it would actively rectify operations and provide the regulator with timely reports on deals in future.

ByteDance said a joint venture between its affiliated firm and Shanghai Dongfang Newspaper Co Ltd, which were both fined, was never in operation and the JV was disbanded in January.

SoftBank declined to comment. Baidu and Didi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

China has stepped up scrutiny of its internet giants in recent months, citing concerns over monopolistic behaviour and potential infringement of consumer rights.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of SoftBank Group Corp is displayed at SoftBank World 2017 conference in Tokyo

The regulator has fined Alibaba (NYSE:BABA), Tencent-backed China Literature and other firms for not reporting deals properly for anti-trust reviews. It also fined company involved in an auto-related deal on Thursday.

Latest comments

$77k. LOL! So this is to make Chinese firms to appear to be trustworthy? Perhaps a much BIGGER fine would have been more believable.
Why not.. You got problem with it? Gringo
father of Covid fining own companies
You must the grand father of covid
in the meantime western regulators: "what's not to love about FAANGs?"
$77K fine… ROFL! 😂😂😂
The real goal is higher taxes for tech
How funny. Country leaders who spend fortunes to steal/hack the worlds companies is crying about their own companies power lol
Kommunist (=state monopolist) China cries over monopoly. LOL
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.