China’s second-largest e-commerce company JD.com said it has sent a letter of complaint to a Chinese antitrust regulator and formally requested an investigation into rival Alibaba Group Holding.
The complaint concerns a State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) regulation that forbids e-commerce platforms from limiting or barring their merchants from participating in promotions on other platforms. The regulation came into effect on 1 Oct.
JD.com said in its letter that it has received information from merchants indicating that Alibaba, which dominates Chinese e-commerce, is "forcing merchants" to choose to exclusively deal with one e-commerce site during promotional activities.
(Source: CNBC)