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China technology
TechPolicy

Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance and 30 other Big Tech firms sign voluntary antitrust ‘self-discipline’ pledge at event

  • Tech giants gathered at the China Internet Conference promising to maintain fair competition and prevent abuses of market position
  • Huawei, Baidu, JD.com and AI company iFlyTek were also among the 33 signatories of the convention

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The convention was drafted by tech companies and the Intellectual Property Centre of the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). Photo: Xinhua
Masha Borak

Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and ByteDance are among 33 Chinese tech companies that have collectively signed an agreement on antitrust self-discipline amid Beijing’s growing regulatory pressure on Big Tech.

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The group of tech companies, which also includes Huawei Technologies Co, Baidu, JD.com and artificial intelligence company iFlyTek, gathered at the China Internet Conference in Beijing on Tuesday and signed the convention on fair competition, consumer protection and strengthening innovation, according to a statement on the Internet Society of China, the conference organiser.

The Internet Platform Operators Anti-Monopoly Self-discipline Convention bars tech companies from engaging in different types of monopolies, including “picking one out of two”, a practice in the e-commerce sector whereby merchants were forced to choose only one platform as their exclusive distribution channel, an issue at the centre of the Alibaba antitrust investigation.

Alibaba, the owner of the South China Morning Post, was fined 18.2 billion yuan (US$2.82 billion) in April for monopolistic behaviours, while online services giant Meituan is still under an antitrust investigation.

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The convention was drafted by tech companies and the Intellectual Property Centre of the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). During the event, the tech firms were awarded a plate by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Internet Society of China in recognition of their service.

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