Nation’s antitrust efforts boost fairness, stability

Strict policies: Meituan deliverymen ride their scooters in Beijing. The food delivery giant was fined RM2.3bil in October for abusing its dominant market position to compel merchants to sign exclusive agreements. — AFP

BEIJING: The year 2021 has been called a remarkable year for China’s antitrust efforts. The country enacted stricter regulations on the platform economy, imposed fines on a string of tech companies for improper behaviour, set up an antimonopoly bureau and proposed amendments to its Antimonopoly Law.

Behind such efforts is a paradigm shift, in which Chinese authorities no longer hold a tolerant, laissez-faire attitude toward the booming platform economy, in which electronic platforms have come to play a large role in the exchange of goods and services.