Chinese regulators held discussions Friday with representatives from seven of the country’s leading companies, including Alibaba (owner of Aliexpress), Douyin (ByteDance), Baidu, Tencent, JD, Meituan and Taobao Flash Sale. Officials stated Saturday that the meetings aimed to ensure strict adherence to China’s anti-unfair competition law, pricing law, consumer rights protection law, and e-commerce law.
China Intervenes Amidst Intense Competition
The administration has requested that the platforms take responsibility for their business practices, strengthen compliance mechanisms, and standardize promotional campaigns. Maintaining a fair and orderly market environment was likewise emphasized.
The regulator warned against “destructive competition,” which lowers margins without creating significant innovation. The goal is to eliminate forms of so-called “involutionary competition,” which involves wasteful resource expenditure. Networks, by continually lowering prices, are operating with increasingly thin profit margins.
According to the regulator, coordinated action by the largest platforms will safeguard the market against escalating promotional activities that do not provide added value for consumers or foster innovation. Authorities called for an end to practices including “algorithmic collusion,” price discrimination, and sales below cost.
