Photo illustration of the logo of Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), a Chinese company that develops music streaming services.
Pavlo Gonchar | SOPA pictures | LightRocket via Getty Images
The Chinese antitrust authorities have ordered Tencent to give up its exclusive music licensing rights with international record labels and fined the company as Beijing continues to crack down on its internet giants at home.
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) on Saturday fined the company 500,000 yuan ($ 77,141) for violating the regulations when it acquired China Music in 2016.
In response, Tencent said it would abide by the regulator’s decision and “meet all regulatory requirements, meet our social responsibilities and contribute to healthy competition in the market.”
It comes as Beijing continues to crack down on its domestic tech companies that have grown into some of the most valuable companies in the world. The crackdown in recent months has ranged from the Ant Group’s $ 34.5 billion initial public offering suspension last year to Alibaba’s $ 2.8 billion antitrust fine.
In April, the SAMR called 34 companies, including Tencent and ByteDance, and ordered them to conduct self-inspections to comply with antimonopoly rules.
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