![](https://www.pymnts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/shutterstock_1171378096-e1606906439599.jpg)
Chinese regulators have hit online discount retailer Vipshop Holdings Ltd with a 3 million yuan ($464,000) fine, the biggest to date in a recent clampdown on anti-competitive behavior among internet firms, reported Reuters.
In a sign that regulators are increasingly willing to use more tools in a newfound zeal to rein in monopolistic behaviour in the tech sector, Vipshop was punished for violations of a law prohibiting unfair competition, which allows for fines of up to 5 million yuan.
By comparison, other firms that have been hit with penalties since late last year were fined under China’s 2008 anti-monopoly law, which allows for a much lower maximum fine of 500,000 yuan.
The Vipshop fine comes on the heels of State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) publishing updated guidelines on how the anti-monopoly law affects internet firms, which said regulators were keen to prevent price fixing as well as the use of data and algorithms to manipulate the market.
SAMR said on Monday that from August through December last year, Vipshop had developed a system to obtain information on brands that gave Vipshop a competitive advantage. It added that Vipshop used its system to influence user choices, transaction opportunities and to block sales of particular brands.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Geradin Partners Expands Paris Office with Key Hire
Aug 30, 2024 by
CPI
Judge Accuses Google of ‘Clear Abuse’ in Antitrust Case Over Deleted Employee Chats
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
Hong Kong Cleaning Company Employee Charged in Historic Antitrust Investigation Case
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
Inside the Yelp Suit: Allegations of Google’s Abuse of Search Power
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
AI Safety Bill Clears Hurdle in California, Heads to Governor’s Desk
Aug 29, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – State Attorneys General
Aug 22, 2024 by
CPI
CPI Talks… …With Attorney General Phil Weiser
Aug 22, 2024 by
CPI
The Bipartisan Miracle of State Antitrust Enforcement
Aug 22, 2024 by
Gwendolyn J. Lindsay Cooley
Recent Developments in State Antitrust Enforcement: Agriculture and Food Markets
Aug 22, 2024 by
Elizabeth R. Odette
State Attorneys General: Stewards of Consumer Health and Welfare
Aug 22, 2024 by
Brooke Howlett Lovrovich