Chinas Antitrust Regulators Fine Tencent, Baidu and 10 Others as Big Tech Crackdown Intensifies – Barron’s

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Chinas market regulator has imposed fines on some of the countrys biggest tech companies relating to 10 deals that violated anti-monopoly laws, it said on Friday.

Separately the watchdog is reportedly weighing a record fine of more than $975 million on Alibaba, according to the Wall Street Journal, as Chinas antitrust crackdown continues. The reports have been denied by Beijing.

The State Administration of Market Supervision (SAMR) said it had issued 500,000 yuan ($77,000) fines to twelve companies, including WeChat owner Tencent, search engine Baidu, ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and Japans SoftBank.

The deals investigated by the watchdog include Tencents 2018 investment in online tutoring start-up Yuanfudao and Baidus 2014 acquisition of smart home robot manufacturer Ainemo.

A joint venture set up by Didi Mobility Pte, a unit of Didi Chuxing, and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank was also probed.

The investigation found that none of the deals eliminated or restricted competition, but that they all breached anti-monopoly rules by failing to notify the authorities.

Read:Chinese Retailer JD.com Beats Sales Estimates. The Online Boom May Be Here to Stay.

The fines come as part of a wider antitrust crackdown by Beijing on Chinas internet giants. In December the SAMR fined JD.com, Alibaba Vipshop 500,000 yuan each for pricing irregularities. The watchdog also opened an antitrust investigation into Jack Mas Alibaba at the end of last year shortly after Beijing halted the IPO of internet finance giant Ant Group.

Read:Ant Group Has a Deal With Regulators. What It Could Mean for Its IPO.

The regulator released new anti-monopoly guidelines in February, following a draft law in November, tightening restrictions. The SAMR said the new rules would stop monopolistic behaviours in the platform economy and protect fair competition in the market.

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Chinas Antitrust Regulators Fine Tencent, Baidu and 10 Others as Big Tech Crackdown Intensifies - Barron's