China’s market regulator has said it was fining companies including Alibaba, Baidu and JD.com for failing to declare 43 deals that date as far back as 2012 to authorities.
The regulator said that the companies violated anti-monopoly legislation.
Enterprises involved in the cases would be fined 500,000 yuan ($78,000) each, it said, the maximum under China’s 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law.
The earliest deal listed was a 2012 acquisition involving Baidu and a partner, and the most recent was the 2021 agreement between Baidu and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holdings to create a new-energy vehicle company.
Other deals cited by the State Administration of Market Supervision included Alibaba’s 2014 acquisition of Chinese digital mapping and navigation firm AutoNavi and its 2018 purchase of a 44% stake in Ele.me to become the food delivery service’s largest shareholder.
