Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The company made by Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, Alibaba, has received punishment from the government of the Bamboo Curtain country.
The authorities under President Xi Jinping decided to impose a fine of 18.23 billion yuan on Alibaba, whose shares are listed on the Wall Street New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
The fine was equivalent to IDR 41 trillion (exchange rate IDR 2,230 / yuan) in the tech giant’s antitrust investigation.
In a statement on Saturday (10/4/2021), China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) punished Alibaba for abusing its market dominance and violating the country’s anti-monopoly law practices.
“Alibaba violates the merchant’s business on the platform as well as the legitimate rights and interests of consumers,” according to a translation as reported by CNBC International.
In addition, regulators say Alibaba must file its own checks and compliance reports with SAMR for 3 years.
An investigation into Alibaba’s breach was carried out in December 2020. The main focus of the investigation is the practice that forces traders to choose one of the two platforms, instead of being able to work with both.
The authorities argue that the “one choose” policy and the other policies allow Alibaba to improve its position in the market and gain an unfair competitive advantage.
Meanwhile, Alibaba also opened its voice about this fantastic fine. They stated they would pay the fine and promised to abide by the rules of the venture in place in China.
“Alibaba takes the punishment sincerely and will ensure its compliance with determination,” Alibaba said in a statement.
“To fulfill its responsibility to society, Alibaba will operate in accordance with the law with great diligence, continue to strengthen its compliance system, and build growth through innovation.”
This fine is part of a wave of the Chinese government in reducing Alibaba group’s business expansion. Earlier Alibaba’s much-anticipated initial public offering was abruptly suspended in November shortly after Chinese regulators published a draft of new rules on online micro-lending.
However, for some, this was caused by Beijing’s frustration with Jack Ma, who had previously criticized the government regime. Ma considers the country’s financial system to be “a legacy of the Industrial Age.”
In the aftermath of the incident, Ma had disappeared from the public for three months and gave rise to the assumption that he had been detained by Chinese authorities. In January, these doubts faded after the eccentric billionaire resurfaced in a video as part of one of his charity initiatives.
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