Chinese market regulators investigate Alibaba ‘monopolistic’ claims

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (CSAMR) has announced that Alibaba is being investigated by regulators over claims of “monopolistic practices”.

According to the BBC, the retail group was previously warned about allegedly making its sellers sign “exclusive deals”, preventing them from trading on rival platforms.

Last month, the company’s subsidiary, the Ant Group, was reportedly forced to stop selling on the stock market which prevented the group from becoming the “world’s biggest launch” after an increase in concerns was raised about the firm’s “micro-lending services”.

The CSAMR was reportedly worried about the vast amount of users that Alibaba have and the influence they have over their life in China, as well as their shopping and payment details.

Since the inventions, the BBC said that tougher “antitrust rules” were introduced across the Chinese tech sector which resulted in a decline of roughly $140bn (£103bn) in the market value of Alibaba.

In conjunction with the regulators announcement, The Ant Group told the BBC it will “seriously study and strictly comply with all regulatory requirements and commit full efforts to fulfil all related work”.

Alibaba and The Ant Group were contacted by Retail Sector for a comment.