China launched an investigation into the online retailer Alibaba Group of billionaire Jack Ma, whom the country's antimonopoly body suspected of monopolistic activity.
This is reported by the Chinese state agency Xinhua.
"According to the information received, the State Administration of Market Regulation of China has launched an investigation into the Alibaba Group corporation, which is suspected of concluding exclusive agreements on transactions and other types of monopolistic activity," the state agency notes.
At the same time, Bloomberg adds that, in addition to starting an investigation into possible monopolistic practices of the Internet giant Alibaba, China also released the affiliated company Ant Group "for a high-level meeting on financial regulations that strengthened control over the empire of billionaire Jack Ma."
Previously considered the driving forces of economic prosperity and symbols of the country's technological prowess, Alibaba and its competitors, such as Tencent, are coming under increasing scrutiny after amassing hundreds of millions of customers and gaining influence in almost every aspect of the country's daily life, the publication writes.
In addition, Jack Ma leads the Forbes ranking of the richest people in China and is 17th in the list of the richest people in the world, the publication estimates the entrepreneur's fortune at 60,8 billion dollars.
