Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Fined $2.75 Billion By Chinese Regulator For Violating Anti-Monopoly Rules

Continuing with its crackdown on billionaire Jack Ma led technology behemoth Alibaba Group Holding Limited, Chinese regulators have slapped the entity with a fine of $2.75 billion for violating anti-monopoly rules and abusing its dominant market position.

This is the highest sum slapped on any company in China as an antitrust fine. It amounts to about four per cent of Alibaba's revenues from 2019.

The company has been subject to intense scrutiny by the Chinese establishment ever since the stinging criticism of China’s regulatory system by the group's founder Jack Ma in October last year.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) had launched the antitrust probe against Alibaba in December last year, weeks after authorities had also halted a planned $37 billion initial public offering (IPO) by the group's internet finance unit Ant Group, reports Reuters.

In its statement, the SAMR said that following the investigation, it has determined that Alibaba Alibaba had been “abusing market dominance” since 2015 by preventing its merchants from using other online e-commerce platforms. It asserted that this violated the law by restricting the free circulation of goods and infringing on the business interests of merchants. The regulator has instructed Alibaba to pursue "thorough rectifications".