Alibaba shares jump 8% after receiving record fine

Alibaba shares in Hong Kong jumped 8 percent on April 12 after the company was fined 18.23 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) by Chinese regulators as a result of an anti-monopoly investigation, Report informs referring to CNBC.

Chinese regulators opened an anti-monopoly probe into Alibaba in December. The main focus was around a practice that forces merchants to list their products on one of two e-commerce platforms, rather than choosing both.

China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said that this practice stifles competition in China’s online retail market and “infringes on the businesses of merchants on the platforms and the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.”

Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said he does not expect a material impact on the company from the change of this exclusivity arrangement.

Zhang also said Alibaba will introduce new measures to lower the entry barriers and costs for businesses and merchants on the platform. The company will also continue to expand to smaller Chinese cities and rural areas, the CEO added.