JD.com Wins Anti-Monopoly Lawsuit Against Alibaba
Chinese online retailer JD.com 9618.HK said on Friday that it won a lawsuit against rival Alibaba 9988.HK, which was fined 1 billion yuan ($140.68 million) for monopolistic practices.
JD.com said it has nothing more to add beyond the statement.
“This ruling is not only a fair decision for JD’s resistance against the ‘choose one out of two’ monopoly, but a landmark moment in upholding market fairness and competition order through the rule of law,” the statement said. “It will be a significant moment in China’s anti-monopoly legal process.”
An Alibaba spokesperson told Reuters they were aware of the ruling and “respect the court’s decision”.
Alibaba was fined a record $2.75 billion in an anti-trust probe by Chinese regulators in 2021 which stated that it had abused its market dominance.
The two e-commerce giants in China had criticized each other for a practice called choosing one out of two, citing brands and merchants who had reportedly been told that if they wanted to operate on their platform, they have to do so exclusively.
($1 = 7.1083 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Sophie Yu, Li Qiaoyi, and Casey Hall; editing by Jason Neely)
Photograph: The logo of Chinese technology firm Alibaba is seen at its office in Beijing on Aug. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)