New Delhi, Nov 20, : .China’s market regulator fined technology giants Alibaba and Tencent, as well as e-commerce platform JD.com Inc.and Suning, for violating anti-monopoly laws in 34 mergers & acquisitions (M&A), deals that they did not declare illegal operating concentration.This is the latest step in China’s battle against monopoly.Global Times reported.For the various deals that they participated in, the State Administration for Market Regulations (SAMR), slapped 500,000 yuan ($78,000.00) each on the firms.This included the joint purchase by Nanjing Xinfeng Network Technology Co and Beijing Baidu Wangxun Technology Co of Nanjing Wangdian Technology Co of Nanjing Xinfeng Network Technology Co.Also, Alibaba’s acquisition equity in AutoNavi Software Holdings Co.Tencent’s equity acquisition in China Medical Online Co.
All transactions required to be declared were not disclosed in the 43 announced cases.These cases involve many companies, and they have a lengthy transaction time period.
The SAMR announced Saturday via its WeChat account.
According to the report, “With the deep advancement in anti-monopoly enforcement, awareness of corporate operators’ concentration declarations had continued to increase.proactively sorting out, reporting concentration that was not previously declared illegally, cooperating with investigations.”
Global Times reported that the market regulator fined several companies, especially those in the platform industry, for their monopolistic behavior.This included making M&As in advance without obtaining regulatory approval and letting merchants “choose between two.” These are unacceptable practices which need to be corrected as the country intensifies anti-monopoly efforts in order to ensure fair market competition.
Chinese food delivery company Meituan was penalized $533.5million by the SAMR for monopolistic activities in October.This was the second largest fine against the Chinese platform economy after Alibaba, which was hit with a $2.8 billion antitrust penalty in April for its exclusionary practices.
The law also allows for the handling of undeclared cases to help preserve the authority of anti-monopoly laws and maintain a predictable and transparent environment for fair competition.It can also encourage enterprises to improve their compliance awareness and abilities, which will promote the development of businesses and other industries.
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