Alibaba Group signage is seen during the company’s 11.11 Singles’ Day global shopping festival at their headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, November 11, 2020.
Aly Song | Reuters
BEIJING — Shares of Alibaba fell after U.S. markets closed Wednesday, as reports surfaced that the Chinese government is conducting an anti-monopoly probe into the tech giant.
CNBC has yet to confirm the reports, which were made by Bloomberg and Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The news comes on the heels of an increasing — and largely unexpected — push by Chinese authorities to rein in their biggest tech firms through regulatory action.
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation has opened an investigation into Alibaba over monopolistic practices, Xinhua said Thursday. The primary issue the report named was a practice that forces merchants to choose one of two platforms, rather than being able to work with both.
New York-traded shares of Alibaba fell more than 3% in after-hours trading.
Separately, Alibaba-affiliate Ant announced it received a notice Thursday from regulators for a meeting. Last month, regulators abruptly suspended the financial technology giant’s massive initial public offering just days before the planned listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
Source: CNBC