China fines Vipshop almost $500,000 for unfair competition acts
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s market regulator on Monday said it has fined online discount retailer Vipshop Holdings Ltd 3 million yuan ($463,936.66) for committing unfair competition acts.
An investigation found that from August through December last year, Vipshop had developed a system to obtain information on brands it and competitors sold that gave Vipshop a competitive advantage, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said on its website.
The regulator announced the investigation into Vipshop in January. Vipshop said on its official Weibo account on Monday that it accepted SAMR’s findings and would strengthen its compliance management in response.
The regulator said Vipshop used its system to influence user choices and transaction opportunities and to block sales of particular brands.
Chinese regulators fined three e-commerce platforms in December, including Vipshop, 500,000 yuan ($77,334.74) each for irregular pricing.
