BEIJING – Chinese regulators announced on Thursday an antitrust investigation by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, stepping up official efforts to strengthen control over China’s fast-growing technology industries.
The market regulator said it was examining Alibaba’s “choose one of two” policy, which requires business partners to avoid relationships with competitors. The one-sentence statement did not provide details on possible sanctions or a timetable for announcing a result.
Chinese leaders said earlier that an economic priority next year will be to step up the monopoly. They appear to be particularly concerned about tightening control over Alibaba and other dominant internet companies that are expanding into finance, healthcare and other businesses.
Alibaba founder Jack Ma is the richest entrepreneur in China and one of the most famous figures in the country.
Regulators earlier forced the suspension of Ant Group’s stock market debut, an online financing platform derived from Alibaba.
A separate announcement on Thursday said Ant officials had been called to meet with regulators.
Alibaba 9988,
BABA,
the largest e-commerce company in the world after total sales volume and another company were fined in mid-December for not requesting official approval before continuing with some purchases.
In November, the government launched proposed regulations aimed at preventing the anti-competitive behavior of internet companies, such as signing exclusive contracts and using subsidies to eliminate competitors.