03-07-2025
China to ban forced excessive discounting at online retailers
A pedestrian walks by a Shanghai sign advertising discounts on Alibaba's Tmall online marketplace. (Photo by Tomoko Wakasugi)
KENTARO SHIOZAKI and TOMOKO WAKASUGI
BEIJING/SHANGHAI -- Chinese authorities plan to crack down harder against online retail platforms that force third-party merchants into a race to the bottom on prices.
Under an amended unfair competition law scheduled to go into effect Oct. 15, online retailers will no longer be able to coerce vendors to mark down products and services below cost, or engage in other practices that "disrupt market order."
