Alibaba Photo:VCG

 
Tech giants Alibaba and Tencent were listed among the top 10 cases of anti-trust law violations in 2020, China’s market regulator revealed on Friday, as the country moves to further tighten anti-trust law enforcement to ensure fair competition in the market.

Both companies have incurred penalties from China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) for breaching of the country’s anti-trust law, according to a notice on the SAMR website.

Alibaba Investment Limited, an investment arm of Alibaba Group, was fined 500,000 yuan ($77,000) last December for an undeclared equity acquisition in Chinese mall operator Yintai Retail in a deal that was not lawfully approved by the market regulator. Alibaba had acquired a 73.79 percent controlling stake in Yintai Retail by June 2017.

China Reading Ltd, a subsidiary of Tencent, was also fined 500,000 yuan last December for its acquisition of New Classics Media in October 2018 without notifying the regulator. 

Both acquisitions violated anti-trust law and led to excessive market concentration, according to the SAMR.