China fines Alibaba $2.8 billion after antitrust investigation
Photo by Fang Dongxu/VCG via Getty Images China has hit Alibaba, one of the country's biggest online retailers, with a record $2.8 billion (18.2 billion yuan) fine, after an investigation found the ecommerce giant violated China's anti-monopoly law, The New York Times reported. The fine, which represents 4 percent of Alibaba's 2019 domestic sales, is three times higher than the $975 million fine China imposed on US chip company Qualcomm back in 2015.
The Chinese government launched an investigation into Alibaba in December to determine whether the company was preventing merchants from selling their products on other platforms. China's market regulator found that Alibaba's practices had a negative effect on online retail competition and innovation. Alibaba used data and...