DJ JD.com, Baidu Pledge to Comply With Chinese Regulator's Antitrust Order

By Martin Mou

More than 10 Chinese internet companies have fallen in line with an official directive to rectify their monopolistic business practices, as Beijing's push to rein in the country's tech giants that started with a probe late last year into Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. shows few signs of abating.

TikTok owner ByteDance, e-commerce company JD.com Inc. and search company Baidu Inc. are among a dozen companies that have pledged to conduct "lawful and compliant operations," the State Administration for Market Regulation, China's top market regulator, said Wednesday.

In a detailed list of actions that will be undertaken, these companies said they would ban monopolistic practices and work to ensure fair competition.

The regulator gave the order at a Tuesday meeting that summoned 34 internet companies, asking them to carry out a comprehensive revamp of their operations and correct any illegal behavior within the next month.

Other companies summoned included Tencent Holdings and Meituan. The market regulator said it will publish the pledges of the other companies over the next two days.

The meeting took place just a few days after authorities slapped a record antitrust fine of $2.8 billion on Alibaba for abusing its dominance in the e-commerce market.

Write to Martin Mou at martin.mou@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 13, 2021 23:35 ET (03:35 GMT)

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