Alibaba, Tencent, and a range of other Chinese tech firms have been fined by the Chinese government for failing to disclose transactions they were required to document to comply with anti-monopoly laws.

According to the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), there were 28 deals which violated the law, five of which involved units of Alibaba, including a 2021 equity purchase in a subsidiary, the Youku Tudou streaming platform. Another 12 transactions involved Tencent.

The companies involved have not commented. Each violation is subject to a maximum fine of about US$75,000, under the anti-monopoly law.

China’s tech sector has been subject to a crackdown on monopolistic practices which began in late 2020.