Beijing reins in Alibaba, JD.com over destructive 618 price cuts

Support us JD.com's "618" festival is one of China's two major annual online shopping events. Photo: Baidu Shares in China’s biggest e-commerce companies fell on Thursday after Beijing’s market regulator summoned five of the country’s largest online shopping platforms over deceptive promotional practices ahead of the annual “618” (June 18) shopping festival. Alibaba’s Hong Kong-listed shares dropped 5.4% to HK$107.40 (US$13.8) while JD.com fell 2.9% to HK$108.9. Nasdaq-listed shares of PDD Holdings Inc, which operates the international shopping app Temu, also declined in early US trading. The Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation accused Taobao, JD.com, Pinduoduo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu of violations including false promotional claims, non-transparent business practices and failure to properly disclose sellers’ information. The action came days before the “618” shopping festival, one of China’s biggest annual retail events, as Beijing pushes a broader campaign to stamp out what it calls “rat race” competition among e-commerce platforms.

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