China on Sunday unveiled new anti-monopoly protocols aimed at curbing the country’s technology giants, Reuters reports. The guidelines, which finalize the draft legislation originally introduced in November, are intended to ‘stop monopolistic behavior in the platform economy and protect fair competition in the market’, according to the Chinese government administration for China.
These rules prohibit China’s leading technology giants such as Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings from pursuing a number of years of market practices. Some of these include retailers choosing among the country’s largest internet providers, hindering technological innovation, manipulating the market using data and algorithms, and pricing, according to Reuters.
Such practices have long been unnoticed, given the government’s practical approach to the business side of the Internet, but in recent months there have been increasing investigations. Chinese regulators launch antitrust inquiry into Alibaba Group in December about the alleged competition practices of the e-commerce giant.
However, it has been an uphill battle so far. In a Q&A issued in conjunction with its new protocols, China’s market regulator notes that it is struggling to implement regulations and comprehensive reform.
“The behavior is hidden, the use of data, algorithms, platform rules and so on make it harder to discover and determine what monopolistic similarities are,” Reuters said.
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But these guidelines definitely looks like a promising first step around the issue.
[Reuters]