China proposes rules to punish illegal e-commerce pricing

China's market regulator issued draft rules on Friday to punish illegal pricing activities, including heavy subsidies and the practice by online platforms of charging different prices based on a customers' purchasing behaviour.

Violation of the rules could incur a fine of 0.1% to 0.5% of a business' annual sales or even suspension of operations, according to a statement from the State Administration for Market Regulations (SAMR).