Enforcing Anti-Monopoly Law Against Big Tech in China: A Case Study of Alibaba’s $2.8bn Fine from SAMR
By: Lerong Lu & Alice Lingsheng Zhang (Oxford Business Law Blog)
Over the past few years, the Chinese authorities have been increasingly concerned about the enormous economic power and influence of the country’s big tech companies, especially those operating in the e-commerce and financial service sectors. On 10 April 2021, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), which is the Chinese competition watchdog, imposed a record fine of 18.23 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) on the e-commerce giant Alibaba which had abused its market dominance. Alibaba was said to exploit its leading market position, platform policies and data, and algorithmic methods in order to force merchants to sell exclusively on Alibaba Group’s online shopping platforms including Taobao and Tmall. The closing price of NYSE-listed Alibaba was $223.31 on 9 April 2021, down 13% from $256.18 on 23 December 2020 when the anti-monopoly investigation was formally launched. Although the current Anti-Monopoly Law of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) came into effect in 2008, it had never been used to punish leading tech companies and platform economies in the country prior to the Alibaba’s case. Therefore, the anti-monopoly probe is the first of its kind in China, which echoes the global trend of scrutinising the anti-competition activities of big tech corporations like what has happened in the EU and the US. The Alibaba’s fine is equivalent to 4% of the Group’s annual revenue in 2019. In addition, Alibaba was asked by the SAMR to file self-examination and compliance reports to the regulator for the forthcoming three years.
Featured News
Clifford Chance Expands Global Antitrust Team with New Partner
Dec 6, 2024 by
CPI
Spain’s Financial Regulator Awaits Antitrust Decision on BBVA’s Hostile Bid for Sabadell
Dec 5, 2024 by
CPI
RealPage Seeks Dismissal of DOJ Antitrust Suit, Citing Legal Flaws
Dec 5, 2024 by
CPI
EU Competition Chief Signals Potential Google Breakup Amid Big Tech Scrutiny
Dec 5, 2024 by
CPI
Turkey Closes Antitrust Probe into Meta’s Threads-Instagram Practices
Dec 5, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Moats & Entrenchment
Nov 29, 2024 by
CPI
Assessing the Potential for Antitrust Moats and Trenches in the Generative AI Industry
Nov 29, 2024 by
Allison Holt, Sushrut Jain & Ashley Zhou
How SEP Hold-up Can Lead to Entrenchment
Nov 29, 2024 by
Jay Jurata, Elena Kamenir & Christie Boyden
The Role of Moats in Unlocking Economic Growth
Nov 29, 2024 by
CPI
Overcoming Moats and Entrenchment: Disruptive Innovation in Generative AI May Be More Successful than Regulation
Nov 29, 2024 by
Simon Chisholm & Charlie Whitehead