China on Sunday put into effect new antitrust guidelines targeting internet platforms, subjecting the country’s tech industry to tougher rules on competition.

Why it matters: The guidelines formalize earlier draft rules announced by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), the nation’s top trustbuster.

• Some of the country’s top internet-based services, including Ant Group’s Alipay, food delivery app Meituan, Tencent’s instant-messaging app WeChat, and online marketplace Taobao, will be subject to the new guidelines. 

Details: The new rules forbid internet platforms from forcing merchants into exclusivity deals, offering different prices based on user data, and using algorithms to manipulate the market.

• Pricing products or services differently according to customer purchasing power, consumption history, or user preference is now considered monopolistic behavior, according to the guidelines.
• The guidelines widen the parameters for determining a firm’s “market-dominant position” to include factors such as transaction volume, user base page views, and technological barriers. 
• SAMR, which issued the rules, said the guidelines will provide a legal basis (in Chinese) for the country to tighten antitrust regulation of internet platforms.

Context: In December, SAMR issued fines to Alibaba and affiliates of Tencent and logistics giant SF Express over three separate acquisition deals, a move that legal experts described as the country’s first batch of antitrust enforcements against tech firms.

• SAMR in January 2020 proposed an overhaul of the country’s Anti-Monopoly Law to include internet firms in the scope of antitrust regulations.
• Last week, Douyin, ByteDance’s Chinese version of TikTok, said it had sued Tencent for monopolistic behavior including blocking Douyin’s content on WeChat.