Alibaba Group signage is on display during the company’s 11.11 Singles’ Day global shopping festival at their headquarters in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, November 11, 2020.
Aly Song | Reuters
BEIJING – Alibaba’s shares have fallen after US markets closed on Wednesday, as reports surfaced that the Chinese government is conducting an anti-monopoly investigation into the technology giant.
CNBC has yet to confirm the reports made by Bloomberg and China’s state news agency Xinhua.
The news comes on the heels of mounting – and largely unexpected – pressure from the Chinese authorities to keep their largest technology companies in check through regulatory action.
China’s state market regulation administration has opened an investigation into Alibaba over monopolistic practices, Xinhua said Thursday. The main issue the report cited was a practice that forces traders to choose one of the two platforms, rather than being able to work with both.
New York-traded shares of Alibaba fell more than 3% in non-business hours trading.
Separately, Alibaba-affiliated Ant announced it received a message from regulators on Thursday for a meeting. Last month, regulators abruptly suspended the financial technology giant’s massive IPO just days before its scheduled listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
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