Chinese authorities announced on the 30th that they have concluded an antitrust investigation into Alibaba, the country's largest e-commerce company, which had been ongoing for over three years.
According to the Hong Kong South China Morning Post (SCMP), the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) ? China’s antitrust agency ? stated in a statement posted on its website that "following investigation and evaluation, Alibaba has completely ceased its 'choose one from two' monopolistic practices."
The agency added, "Alibaba's rectification efforts have yielded good results."
It further stated, "In the next phase, Alibaba Group will be guided to continue standardizing its operations, further improve the quality and efficiency of compliance, accelerate innovation-driven development, and steadily enhance service levels to firmly guarantee the building of a world-class company and the improvement of international competitiveness."
In response, Alibaba said that the conclusion of the authorities' investigation marks a new beginning for the group.
Previously, at the end of 2020, SAMR launched an investigation into Alibaba’s potential violations of antitrust laws, and in April 2021, imposed a fine of 18.228 billion yuan (approximately 3.4 trillion won) on Alibaba for forcing merchants on its platform to choose exclusively between platforms, effectively blocking them from joining competitors.
There have been speculations that the authorities, who had previously tolerated Alibaba’s monopolistic behavior, began to clamp down on the company following founder Ma Yun’s critical remarks about financial regulators.
In October 2020, Ma Yun sharply criticized financial regulators at a financial forum held in Shanghai, attended by top Chinese national leaders including Vice President Wang Qishan and People’s Bank of China Governor Yi Gang, stating that "risk prevention has been set as the top priority, leading to overly conservative regulatory policies."
Shortly after Ma Yun’s remarks, the planned IPO of Ant Group, Alibaba’s financial affiliate, scheduled for November that year, was abruptly halted, and Alibaba was forced to cease its internet microloans and financial investment product sales, which had been key revenue sources.
Moreover, Ma Yun disappeared from public view and spent over two years abroad until returning to China in March last year, while authorities continued to pressure Alibaba through ongoing investigations.
SCMP explained that "Chinese regulatory authorities fully acknowledged and commended Alibaba’s compliance with antitrust regulations."
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