Chinese antitrust regulator the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) will be ordering multinational technology company Tencent Holdings Ltd. (HK: 0700) to surrender the rights of music labels which it has been using to compete with its smaller rivals in the industry.
The regulator will also be fining the company $77,150 (500,000 yuan) for lapses in reporting acquisitions of apps namely Kugou and Kuwo which it acquired in the beginning of the year.
This announcement comes as the latest move by the regulator on the crackdown against Chinese loosely regulated tech giants. This crackdown began last year and leading Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Holding Ltd. (BABA) was the first on the chopping board after it was slapped with a record 18 billion yuan fine for abusing its market dominance.
Back in April, the regulator said it would be slapping Tencent with a minimum fine of 10 billion yuan and further it might force the company to sell Kuwo and Kugou.
The regulator says it’s no longer interested in forcing the company to sell the two apps it purchased in 2016 but rather it will be imposing 500,000 yuan fine.
