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China has fined food delivery giant Meituan $530 million. antitrust violations Friday is the second major penalty this year for Beijing’s efforts to bring the country’s major internet companies to heel.
The government’s campaign was blessed by the highest levels of Communist Party leadership. It includes a large number of regulatory and policy makers. And it destroyed hundreds of billions of dollars in the wealth of shareholders of China and some of the world’s most successful tech businesses.
Like regulators and politicians in the United States and Europe, China’s leaders have watched with alarm as internet companies gain more influence than ever before on commerce, society and daily life. They want to ensure that these companies do not use their power to gain unfair advantages over their competitors or to exploit captive consumers.
But Beijing can act with a speed and determination that Western officials could not even imagine. bring down companies and industries with a few quick hits.
of china first major antitrust penalty A technology company was sued in April against Alibaba, the e-commerce giant founded by Jack Ma, one of the richest people in the world. The government’s market watchdog, the State Market Regulatory Administration, has fined Alibaba $2.8 billion for blocking merchants on shopping sites from selling on other platforms.
This amount, a record fine for violating China’s antitrust law, represented 4 percent of Alibaba’s domestic sales in 2019.
same agency announced shortly after He said he was investigating reports of similar apps in Meituan.
After the market regulator announced its investigation, Wang Xing, founder and CEO of Meituan, told analysts that the company is reviewing its operations and bans the use of private partnerships for restaurants and other merchants.
“We will fully respect the independent choices of traders,” Mr. Wang said during an earnings call in May.
Meituan was founded in 2010 as a Groupon-like service for purchasing coupons from local vendors. Mr. Wang previously set up and operated two social media sites. Last year, more than 510 million people used Meituan’s platform to order takeout and groceries, book hotels, and travel.
Albee Zhang contributed to research.
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