China’s central bank will “deepen” its antitrust investigations into the mobile payment sector, which has been dominated by a few private financial technology firms, despite “interim progress” made in the last year, its deputy governor said on Friday, September 24.
Beijing has enhanced the regulation surrounding Big Tech companies and has indicated a continued clampdown amid the country’s prolonged de-risking strategy.
“The antitrust actions in the payment sector need to deepen,” Fan Yifei told China Payment and Clearing Forum in Beijing. “The central bank will persistently urge platform companies to rectify their payment businesses.”
Mobile payments are one of the most visible parts in China’s fast-growing digital economy, which rose by 9.6 per cent to US$5.4 trillion last year to become the world’s second largest only behind the United States.
Central bank data showed that non-banking payment agencies – which are headlined by Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Ant Group’s Alipay – handled 294.6 trillion yuan (US$45.6 trillion) across 827.3 billion transactions last year, up by 17.9% and 14.9%, respectively, from a year earlier.
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
BHP Unveils £31bn Mining Megamerger Proposal with Anglo American
Apr 25, 2024 by
nhoch@pymnts.com
ByteDance Prefers Shutdown Over Sale of TikTok Amid US Ban Threats
Apr 25, 2024 by
CPI
FCC Votes to Restore Net Neutrality Rules
Apr 25, 2024 by
nhoch@pymnts.com
Apple Rejects Spotify’s Updated App Over In-App Pricing Disclosure
Apr 25, 2024 by
CPI
FCC Set to Reinstate Net Neutrality Rules Today
Apr 25, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Economics of Criminal Antitrust
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Navigating Economic Expert Work in Criminal Antitrust Litigation
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
The Increased Importance of Economics in Cartel Cases
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
A Law and Economics Analysis of the Antitrust Treatment of Physician Collective Price Agreements
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI
Information Exchange In Criminal Antitrust Cases: How Economic Testimony Can Tip The Scales
Apr 19, 2024 by
CPI