Market Regulation

China's State Administration for Market Regulation fined seven platforms from PDD Holdings, Meituan, JD.com, Alibaba and ByteDance a record 3.6 billion yuan (US$528 million) over 67,000 unlicensed 'ghost' bakeries. The probe revealed hidden offices, violent clashes and an employee swallowing notes to obstruct investigators. Incidents occurred during a December on-site inspection at Pinduoduo.