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the state administration for market regulation has further released signals that it supports and encourages the development of the platform economy.

on august 30, according to the state administration for market regulation, in april 2021, the state administration for market regulation imposed administrative penalties and conducted administrative guidance on alibaba group holding limited (hereinafter referred to as alibaba group) for implementing the "choose one of two" monopoly behavior in the online retail platform service market in china, ordering it to stop its illegal activities, conduct comprehensive self-inspection and rectification, and submit self-inspection and compliance reports to the state administration for market regulation for three consecutive years.

the news pointed out that over the past three years, the state administration for market regulation has strengthened supervision of alibaba group's compliance rectification, conducted in-depth inspections on the implementation of rectification, and commissioned a third-party agency to conduct an evaluation of the effectiveness of law enforcement. from the inspection and evaluation, alibaba group has completely stopped the "choose one of two" monopoly behavior in accordance with the requirements of the "administrative penalty decision" and "administrative guidance", strictly regulated its own business operations, conscientiously implemented the platform's main responsibilities, improved the corporate compliance management system, and improved the service level of merchants and consumers on the platform. the compliance rectification work has achieved good results, the online retail market environment has been improved, the fair competition order has been effectively restored, the market development space has been continuously expanded, the competition vitality between platforms has been significantly improved, and the quality of platform economic development and the business environment have been continuously optimized.

in the next step, the state administration for market regulation will guide alibaba group to continue to standardize its operations, further improve compliance quality and efficiency, accelerate innovation-driven development, and continuously improve service levels, providing solid guarantees for building a world-class company and enhancing international competitiveness.

in response to the above announcement, alibaba responded to the reporter from the paper, saying, "for alibaba, this is a new starting point for development. in the future, we will continue to focus on innovation, adhere to compliant operations, increase investment in science and technology, promote the healthy development of the platform economy, and create more value for society."

the state administration for market regulation also stated that the party central committee and the state council attach great importance to promoting the development of the platform economy. the state administration for market regulation will resolutely implement the spirit of the 20th national congress of the communist party of china and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th central committee, coordinate efficiency and fairness, vitality and order, development and security, adhere to the balance between supervision and promotion of development, deepen anti-monopoly supervision and law enforcement in the platform economy, accelerate the establishment of a regular supervision system, guide platform companies to improve their compliance capabilities and levels, continuously optimize the fair competition market environment, and promote the standardized, healthy and sustainable innovative development of the platform economy.

"the completion of alibaba group's three-year rectification and good results can be seen as a positive signal from the regulatory authorities to support and encourage the development of the platform economy." wang peng, an associate researcher at the beijing academy of social sciences, told the paper that this signal shows that while the regulatory authorities maintain fair competition in the market, they also focus on guiding and supporting the healthy development of the platform economy in a standardized manner. the tense atmosphere regarding anti-monopoly in the platform economy in the past few years was mainly to correct unfair competition in the market, protect consumer rights, and promote fair competition in the market. with the advancement of rectification work and the emergence of results, the regulatory authorities have become more rational and supportive of the development of the platform economy.

"the country has always supported the development of the platform economy. the policy of giving equal importance to the development of the platform economy and regulation has never changed, and we hope to achieve normalized supervision." liu xu, a special researcher at the national institute of strategic studies at tsinghua university, told the paper.

previously, in december 2020, the state administration for market regulation initiated an investigation into alibaba group holding limited's abuse of its dominant market position in china's online retail platform service market in accordance with the anti-monopoly law. upon investigation, alibaba group has a dominant position in china's online retail platform service market. since 2015, alibaba group has abused its dominant market position to impose a "choose one of two" requirement on merchants on the platform, prohibiting merchants on the platform from opening stores or participating in promotional activities on other competitive platforms, and using market forces, platform rules, data, algorithms and other technical means to adopt a variety of reward and punishment measures to ensure the implementation of the "choose one of two" requirement, maintain and enhance its own market power, and obtain unfair competitive advantages.

on april 10, 2021, the state administration for market regulation made an administrative penalty decision in accordance with the law, ordering alibaba group to stop its illegal activities and imposing a fine of 4% of its sales in china in 2019 of 455.712 billion yuan, totaling 18.228 billion yuan. at the same time, in accordance with the principle of combining punishment with education in the administrative penalty law, an "administrative guidance" was issued to alibaba group, requiring it to carry out comprehensive rectification around strictly implementing the main responsibilities of platform enterprises, strengthening internal control and compliance management, maintaining fair competition, and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of merchants and consumers on the platform, and submitting self-inspection compliance reports to the state administration for market regulation for three consecutive years.

"strengthening antitrust supervision will never be a factor hindering the development of high-tech industries, but will be a driving force that is more conducive to improving efficiency, corporate innovation and consumer welfare." liu xu further pointed out that in the past three years, alibaba, meituan and cnki, which were punished by antitrust law enforcement agencies, have not brought substantial development obstacles to the three companies. at the end of 2020, the central government proposed to strengthen antitrust, eliminating the "two-choice" behavior in the fields of the three super-large platforms, and their respective competitors have also developed better, without the decline of the punished companies, but have jointly moved towards expanding overseas markets and striving for high-quality development.

"such positive signals will undoubtedly affect future policy trends and market environment." wang peng pointed out that the regulatory authorities' support for the development of the platform economy will help provide a more stable and predictable policy environment for platform economy operators. for platform economy operators like alibaba, this means that they can innovate and expand more boldly when conducting business. but at the same time, they also need to pay attention to complying with relevant laws, regulations and market rules to ensure the compliance and sustainability of business activities.

wang peng further pointed out that future policy directions may pay more attention to balancing the relationship between innovation and regulation, encouraging platform companies to give full play to their technological innovation advantages and promote the deep integration and development of the digital economy and the real economy, while also increasing regulatory efforts to prevent and resolve potential risks and maintain fair competition order in the market and the rights of consumers.