China tech stocks surge despite fines and crackdown

Meituan shares rose over 8% during the opening session for the week notwithstanding the over $500 million antitrust fine slammed on the food delivery giant by the authorities. The firm also indicated that the fine wasn’t at harsh as anticipated.

“The Meituan fine was actually lower than expected,” an expert noted during a talk on the issue on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia”.

On Friday, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) announced that Meituan was involved in activities that constituted an abuse of its dominant position  in the country’s online food delivery industry.

The market regulator noted that Meituan put pressure on merchants to sign exclusive and restrictive partnership agreements with them and executed punitive measures upon the merchants who refused to sign it.

The SAMR hit Meituan with a 3.44 billion yuan (US$534.3 million) fine, along with an outright order to carry out necessary rectification measures, bring a months-long probe to an end.

Meituan ended the day with an 8% surge in Hong Kong trade, while other China technology stocks listed in Hong Kong also recorded a surge. Tencent closed the day higher by 2.9% while Alibaba spiked almost 8%.