Kathmandu. China has proposed to suppress the power of major internet giants in the country. The decision was made to decrease the increasing influences of digital platforms in China.

Technological giants such as Alibaba, Tencent, Ant Group and Meituan (a food delivery company) will be greatly affected by the new regulations. The shares of the companies fell largely after the news was released on Tuesday. China’s decision comes shortly after the European Union (EU) and the United States have decided upon similar regulations.

According to an article in BBC, a 22-page draft was prepared by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), seeking to define anti-competitive behavior for the first time. The new rules seek to prevent the company from exchanging sensitive consumer information, cracking down on small competitors, teaming up to squeeze out smaller rivals and selling at a loss to eliminate competitors.

The rules aim to tighten the online platforms that forces businesses to announce special provisions. As of September, Alibaba said it had 881 million monthly active mobile users. The number is more than half of China’s total population.

Ant, Alibaba’s affiliate company, has about 1.3 billion users, most of whom are Chinese. Meanwhile, US authorities are taking action against search engine ‘Google’. It is the biggest antitrust suit since the 1990s case against Microsoft.