China's market regulator announced on Saturday that it was fining Alibaba, Baidu, and JD.com for failing to report 43 agreements to authorities dating back to 2012, alleging that they breached anti-monopoly laws.
The companies implicated in the instances will be penalized a maximum of CNY 500,000 apiece, according to the statement, which is the highest amount allowed under China's 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law. Requests for comment from Alibaba, Baidu, JD.com, and Geely were not immediately returned. China has tightened its hold on internet platforms, reversing a previously lax stance and citing the possibility of exploiting market dominance to restrict competition, abuse of customer data, and violations of consumer rights as reasons.
The first contract reported was a joint venture between Baidu and a partner in 2012, while the most recent was a 2021 agreement between Baidu and Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely Holdings to form a new-energy vehicle firm. Alibaba's 2014...
