Meituan (3690.HK), a Chinese food delivery and e-commerce giant, has recently been investigated by China's new market regulator, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) for allegedly antitrust.

Based on the reports received, the SAMR launches an investigation on Meituan, which was accused of conducting anticompetitive behaviors such as “two-choose-one”. For example, Meituan requires merchants to sign exclusive contracts. If they don't, the e-commerce platform will charge a commission of up to 23%.

It means that another Chinese e-commerce giant will soon be in the same situation as Jack Ma's Alibaba.

Previously, on April 10, the SAMR imposed an administrative penalty on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. for its “two-choose-one” monopoly in its online retail platform in China, ordering Alibaba to stop its illegal acts and imposing a fine of 4% of its 2019 sales in China, a record of $2.8 billion(18.228 billion yuan).

On April 13, China's market regulator, together with the relevant government departments, held an administrative guidance meeting for Internet enterprises. The meeting required that the platform enterprises should learn from the case of Alibaba, to conduct a comprehensive self-examination within a month.

The SAMR said if the platform enterprises are found to force the implementation of “two-choose-one” and other illegal behaviors, all would be punished heavily and strictly according to the law.

Meituan responded that it has been notified by the SAMR and will actively cooperate with the investigation. At present, the company is running businesses normally.