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| Chinese antitrust regulations target tech giants |
China's market watch authority on Sunday published new antitrust regulations for internet platforms and tightened existing restrictions on Chinese tech giants.
New antitrust regulations formalize the antitrust law that was passed in November and define a number of monopoly practices that regulators want to eliminate.
The new antitrust rules are expected to put more pressure on the country's major internet services, including e-commerce sites such as Taobao, Alibaba's Tmall Mall and JD.com.
The new regulations also apply to payment services such as Alipay from Ant Group or WeChat Pay from Tencent Holdings.
The antitrust rules published by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on the website prevent companies from taking a number of measures, including requiring traders to choose from among the best internet companies in the country, a long-standing practice in the internet market.
The State Administration for Market Regulation said: The latest guidelines prevent monopolistic behavior in the platform economy and protect fair competition in the market by preventing companies from setting prices, restricting technology, and using data and algorithms to manipulate the market.
On the questions and answers page attached to the announcement, the state regulatory authority noted that reports of online antitrust activity are increasing and that they are facing challenges in regulating the sector.
"By using data, algorithms, statute rules, etc., the behavior becomes more invisible making it difficult to find and define monopoly agreements," she said.
In recent months, China has begun to tighten its grip on tech giants and reverse its laissez-faire practices.
In December, regulators opened an antitrust investigation into the Alibaba Group after suspending the Alibaba Group's $ 37 billion initial public offering of its subsidiary Ant Group.
At that point, the regulator issued a warning to the company about the behavior, including requiring companies to sign exclusive cooperation agreements at the expense of other internet platforms.