More Trouble Brews For Alibaba, Tencent As China Ramps Up Anti-Monopoly Bureau

China's competition watchdog, the State Administration for Market Regulation, will ramp up staffing at its anti-monopoly bureau, Bloomberg reports.
The bureau will split into three separate divisions focusing on antitrust investigations, market competition, and mergers oversight.
The bureau aims to increase the number of antitrust officials from over 40 currently to 100 before reaching 150 within five years.
The moves signal the SAMR, which has extracted billions in penalties from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA and Meituan MPNGF MPNGY for market abuse, is moving into a new phase of enforcing a plethora of regulations.
President Xi Jinping sought to strengthen antitrust work to ensure fair competition to thwart Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd's TCEHY growing dominance.
SAMR deputy director Gan Lin would likely lead the administration, while Wu Zhenguo, who currently heads the anti-monopoly division, will head the new investigation bureau.
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Price Action: BABA shares traded lower by 0.46% at $163.25 on the last check Tuesday.