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 The complaint concerns a State Administration for Industry and
Commerce (SAIC) regulation that forbids e-commerce platforms from
limiting or barring their merchants from participating in promotions
on other platforms. The regulation came into effect on Oct. 1.
JD.com said in its letter that it has received information from
merchants indicating that Alibaba, which dominates Chinese
e-commerce, is "forcing merchants" to choose to exclusively deal
with one e-commerce site during promotional activities.
If merchants choose to participate in certain promotional activities
on Alibaba's Tmall website during the upcoming Singles' Day online
shopping event around Nov. 11, they "are not permitted" to
participate in other platforms activities, otherwise "Alibaba will
carry out punishment or sanctions", JD.com said it had been informed
by sellers on its site.
Alibaba spokesman Rico Ngai told Reuters: "We strongly deny the
accusations. Alibaba welcomes competition as it benefits consumers,
merchants and service providers."
No one with the authority to speak on behalf of SAIC was available
for comment when Reuters telephoned the administration outside
business hours.
If the SAIC does launch an investigation and finds the company has
violated regulations, it could be punished according to the
country's laws governing antitrust and unfair competition.
BITTER RIVALS
JD.com said that Alibaba's behaviour has "harmed merchants'
interests" and "not only obstructed normal market competition, but
also seriously harmed consumers' interests".
The two companies are bitter rivals in Chinese e-commerce, with
little love lost between their founders.
If the SAIC does investigate, it would not be Alibaba's first tussle
with the regulator.
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In January the SAIC published a so-called "white paper" report on
its website, criticising Alibaba for not doing enough to suppress
widespread counterfeiting on its websites. The company's shares fell
more than 8 percent on the day after the report.
Two days after the report went up on the website the regulator
retracted it, saying that it was not an official "white paper" and
that it did not carry any legal force. An Alibaba spokesman said at
the time that the company felt vindicated.
Tensions have come to a head in the run-up to China's annual
Singles' Day event, the world's biggest online shopping bonanza.
Alibaba said that sales of more than $9 billion were achieved at
last year's event.
The event is closely scrutinised and in April Alibaba was fined
800,000 yuan ($126,268.60) by the price bureau in eastern Zhejiang
province for violations by third-party sellers during the
promotions.
The thousands of vendors featured on Alibaba's Singles' Day shopping
sites hope to boost sales and gain customers, but some have
complained that discounts, often under pressure from Alibaba, and
cut-throat corporate rivalry undercut the benefits.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten and Beijing Newsroom in BEIJING and John
Ruwitch in SHANGHAI; Editing by David Goodman)
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