Alibaba is reportedly being considered for a penalty by the Chinese government.
According to unnamed sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, a record fine of more than $975 million is being mulled by the China antitrust regulators for alleged abuse of Alibaba's dominant market position. The report also indicated that regulators want Alibaba to distance itself from founder Jack Ma and to avoid practices that pressure some sellers to operate only on its platforms.
Regulators are considering divestiture of Alibaba assets unrelated to its main online-retailing business, according to the Journal's report.
China made its regulatory crackdown on Alibaba and its affiliate Ant Financial Group apparent starting late last year, when the Chinese President Xi Jinping decided to halt the initial public offering of Ant Group.
However, China denied that is considering any such penalty.
According to another report by Wall Street Journal, knowledgeable sources told that China's government has asked Alibaba to dump some of its media assets over concerns about Alibaba's influence over public opinion.