The Chinese authorities are fighting an overgrowth of the power of the internet giants. Their concern is the monopolization of various sectors of the Internet economy and the excessive concentration of capital. According to Bloomberg, the total capitalization of Alibaba, Tencent and Ant in 2019 was about $ 2 trillion. Mobile payments are one of the most visible parts of China's fast-growing digital economy, which rose by 9.6 % last year to become the world's second-largest, behind the United States: - "The antitrust actions in the payment sector need to deepen," Fan Yifei told China Payment and Clearing Forum in Beijing. "The central bank will persistently urge platform companies to rectify their payment businesses."
In April 2021, the Chinese regulator fined Internet giant Alibaba an unprecedented $ 2.78 billion for violating antitrust laws. According to the Antitrust Authority of China, Alibaba has abused its dominant market position by forcing consumers to use services without choice. This negatively affected the competitive landscape of the Chinese e-commerce market.
Alibaba's Ant Group was ordered to transform the company into a financial holding company governed by the rules and spin-off its payment service Alipay as a separate company. It is one of the two most prominent payment services in the country alongside Tencent's WeChat Pay.
According to Blomberg, this week, Tencent's WeChat Pay has been added to some of the Alibaba Group's apps, such as Ele.me food delivery service, Damai online ticketing platform, Shuqi and Kaola e-book reader and other Alibaba Group resources.
WeChat Pay is accepted along with Alibaba payment services such as Alipay. An Alibaba spokesman confirmed the information and added that the company will continue looking for contact points with other resources to serve consumers better.
Source: Bloomberg website
