The signage is seen at the Alibaba Group headquarters during the company’s 11.11 Singles’ Day global shopping festival in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, November 11, 2020.
Aly Song | Reuters
GUANGZHOU, China – Hong Kong’s Alibaba shares rose more than 5% on Monday after the company was fined 18.23 billion yuan ($ 2.8 billion) by Chinese regulators following an antitrust investigation .
“Despite the record amount of the fine, we believe this should lift a major overrun on BABA and shift the market focus back to the fundamentals,” Morgan Stanley wrote in a note Sunday, a day after the fine was issued.
Chinese regulators opened an antitrust probe in Alibaba in December. The main focus has been around a practice that forces traders to list their products on one of the two e-commerce platforms, rather than choosing both.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (MRSA) said on Saturday that the practice is stifling competition in China’s online retail market and “violates traders’ business on platforms and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.”
Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said he does not expect a significant impact on the company from changing this exclusivity agreement.
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