China slaps Alibaba with $2.8 billion fine in anti-monopoly probe

Chinese regulators hit Alibaba with a 18.23 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) fine in its anti-monopoly investigation of the tech giant.

In a Saturday statement, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation accused Alibaba of abusing its market dominance.

Regulators opened a probe into the company’s monopolistic practices in December. The investigation’s main focus was a practice that forces merchants to choose one of two platforms, rather than being able to work with both.

The government said that “choose one” policy and others allowed Alibaba to bolster its position in the market and gain unfair competitive advantages.

This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.