China Fines Giant Internet Company, Alibaba Gets Rp41 Trillion

JAKARTA - Several internet giants from China, including Alibaba and Tencent, were fined Wednesday by the country's anti-monopoly regulator. The decision is a new step to tighten government control over their fast-growing industry.

In 22 cases, each company was fined 500,000 yuan (Rp1.1 billion) for their actions including acquiring shares in other companies that may improperly increase their market power. This was conveyed by the State Administration for Market Regulation of the Chinese Government.

The violators said the violators included six companies owned by Alibaba Group, five by Tencent Holding and two by retailer Suning.com.

Chinese leaders worry about the dominance of its biggest internet company, which is expanding into finance, healthcare and other sensitive areas. China's ruling Communist Party says anti-monopoly enforcement, especially in technology, is their priority this year.

In its biggest sentence to date, Alibaba was fined 18.3 billion yuan (Rp 41 trillion) in April on charges of suppressing competition. Other companies have been fined or reprimanded for violating competition, data protection, censorship and other rules.

On Sunday, July 4, ride-hailing service Didi Global, which debuted on the US stock market last week, was ordered by regulators to overhaul the collection and handling of customer information.