The conflict between Alibaba founder Jack Ma and the Chinese government is escalating. Jack Ma turned out to be an unreliable member of the Communist Party who doubts that it is impartial. Of course, such views cannot be forgiven.
By the moment, he has been only slightly punished. The IPO of Ant Group, a subsidiary company, was suspended and the government took control over the company. Moreover, Alibaba has to pay a fine of $2.78 billion for the violation of the anti-monopoly law. Notably, the Chinese authorities rolled out the largest fine in the country’s history. However, it allowed Jack Ma not to give Alibaba to the government.
In the statement provided by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), it is said that Alibaba was fined for the violation of the anti-monopoly law. SAMR also urges the company to stop the violation of national laws. The fine accounts for about 4% of the company's domestic sales in 2019, which totaled 455.71 billion yuan ($69.67 billion). Thus, the company has to pay 18.22 billion yuan ($2.78 billion).
The regulatory authorities have started the investigation as the company's actions have an allegedly negative impact on the competitive environment of the Chinese e-commerce market. Alibaba does not allow its customers to work with other trading platforms. It is obvious that it is not the main reason for the conflict. This user agreement has been in effect for several years already and no one paid attention to it. Nevertheless, the Internet behemoth accepted a record penalty imposed by the country's anti-monopoly regulator and posted a corresponding announcement on its website.
