VIPS - China hits Vipshop with 3M-yuan fine using recently toughened rules

China's latest move in cracking down on its Internet companies is a 3M-yuan fine (about $464,000) against Vipshop (VIPS), alleging anticompetitive behavior. That follows China's State Administration for Market Regulation publishing updated guidelines on how an anti-monopoly law affects the country's Internet firms - and the new fine is a sign that regulators are ready to take more action to rein in big tech. The law, prohibiting unfair competition, allows for fines of up to 5M yuan. Its previous anti-monopoly law from 2008 allows for a much lower fine of 500,000 yuan. Specifically, regulators said Vipshop had developed a system late last year to obtain information on brands that gave the company a competitive advantage - and that Vipshop used the system to influence user choices and transaction opportunities and to block sales of some brands.

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China hits Vipshop with 3M-yuan fine, using recently toughened rules