China preparing new restrictions for IT-sector

China's State Agency for Market Regulation (SAMP) has developed a draft of new rules of anti-monopoly regulation in the IT sector, providing for the further restrictions of the work of the IT companies.

Report informs, citing foreign media, that the regulator will hold a public survey on the bill until September 15, after which the document may undergo changes. However, investors of China's IT companies have already responded to the growing pressure from authorities, with the shares in IT companies dropping dramatically. The shares of Alibaba and Tencent shrank 4.6% and 4.2%, respectively, today. SAMR has already fined both companies for violating the anti-monopoly law this year.

The Financial Times reports that the draft rules, which may be revised after a consultation period, banned groups from widespread practices such as exploiting user data to learn how customers behave and influence them to not choose competitors' products or services.

Limiting traffic to other platforms by practices such as blocking hyperlinks to rivals, or using fake transactions or reviews to damage competition, would also be prohibited.

Analysts believe that China's market regulator has escalated demands in recent months for "self-rectification" from dozens of internet companies, including ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing.