The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) fined Ant Group, which brings together Alipay, the internet payment service of Alibaba, one of the largest internet companies in the country, and its related assets under the same roof, on the grounds of “violation of anti-monopoly law” of 984 million 330 thousand dollars.
Financial technology company Ant Group was fined as part of the investigation opened after the central government halted its planned $37 billion bilateral public offering on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges in October 2020.
PBoC announced that the company was fined 984 million 330 thousand dollars for “violation of antitrust law”.
Commenting that the uncertainty in the stock markets disappeared with the end of the ongoing investigation since then, experts estimate that a positive trend awaits the company.
Experts also state that the fine in question may be the last step of Beijing’s pressure on Alipay.
Shares of Alibaba Group Holding, of which Ant Group is a partner, rose by 6.4 percent to HK$86.70 (approximately $11.08) in Hong Kong today.
Control pressure on Chinese internet companies.
From the end of 2020, Chinese regulators have increased sanctions on large-scale internet companies that also have investments abroad, such as Alibaba, Tencent and Didi.
China’s State Market Regulatory Authority (SAMR) targeted internet companies such as Alibaba, Meituan, Baidu and Didi in its investigations it launched on the grounds of violating the antitrust law.
E-commerce giant Alibaba was fined 18.2 billion yuan (about $2.8 billion) in April 2021 for violating the antitrust law.