Chinese Internet firms pledge to avoid anti-competitive behaviors

FILE PHOTO: A Baidu sign is seen at the World Internet Conference (WIC) in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, China, October 20, 2019. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

BEIJING (Reuters) - A dozen Chinese Internet platform companies pledged to avoid anti-competitive behaviors such as forcing vendors to use their platform exclusively, according to a statement on Wednesday from the State Administration for Market Regulation.

Companies including Baidu, JD.com, and Bytedance have made promises to stop using such banned practices, including over-harvesting consumer data and abusing their market dominance position, the statement said.