Beijing cracks down on monopolies

The Chinese government is looking to crack down on monopolies. As reported by the South China Morning Post, a subsidiary each of e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding as well as the Tencent Holdings and express delivery company SF Holding each fined 500,000 yuan (62,795 euros) by the antitrust authority. The companies are Alibaba Investment, e-book publisher China Literature and express locker operator Shenzhen Hive Box Technology. This is the first time the anti-monopoly bureau has publicly cracked down on monopoly behavior in the online economy. Most recently, Beijing had announced its intention to strengthen the interests of consumers. niw