JD.com Wins $140m Anti-Monopoly Case Against Alibaba

Chinese e-commerce company JD.com said on Friday that it won a lawsuit against its giant rival Alibaba, which was fined 1 billion yuan ($140.68 million) for its controversial “choosing one from two” practice.

The High People’s Court of Beijing ruled that Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, plus its units Zhejiang Tmall Network Co and Zhejiang Tmall Technology Co, had abused their market dominance and adopted monopolistic practices, causing JD.com severe damage, JD.com said in a statement published on its official WeChat account.

JD.com hailed the ruling as a big moment in China’s anti-monopoly oversight.

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“This ruling is not only a fair decision for JD’s resistance against the ‘choose one out of two’ monopoly, but a landmark moment in upholding market fairness and competition order through the rule of law,” the statement said.

“It will be a significant moment in China’s anti-monopoly legal process.”

Alibaba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Once an internet juggernaut, Alibaba has endured a few tough years. In 2021, it was fined a record $2.75 billion in an anti-trust probe by Chinese regulators who stated that it had abused its market dominance.

The two e-commerce giants in China had criticised each other for a practice called choosing one out of two, citing brands and merchants who had reportedly been told that if they wanted to operate on their platform, they have to do so exclusively.

And last month, Alibaba pulled the plug on plans to spin-off its cloud business. It said the US move to expand its export controls on computer chips had created “uncertainties”.