Chinese regulators have hit online discount retailer Vipshop Holdings Ltd with a 3 million yuan 464000 fine the biggest to date in a recent clampdown on anticompetitive behaviour among internet firms In a sign that regulators are increasingly willing to use more tools in a newfound zeal to rein in monopolistic behaviour in the tech sector Vipshop was punished for violations of a law prohibiting unfair competition which allows for fines of up to 5 million yuan By comparison other firms that have been hit with penalties since late last year were fined under China’s 2008 antimonopoly law which allows for a much lower maximum fine of 500000 yuan The Vipshop fine comes on the heels of State Administration for Market Regulation SAMR publishing updated guidelines on how the antimonopoly law affects internet firms which said regulators were keen to prevent price fixing as well as the use of data and algorithms to manipulate the market SAMR said on Monday that from August through December last year Vipshop had developed a system to obtain information on brands that gave Vipshop a competitive advantage It added that Vipshop used its system to influence user choices transaction opportunities and to block sales of particular brands New Yorklisted Vipshop which has a market value of about 22 billion said on Monday that it accepted SAMR’s findings and would strengthen compliance The heightened scrutiny by Chinese regulators since December has included the announcement of a probe into ecommerce giant Alibaba penalising Alibababacked and Tencentbacked firms for not seeking antitrust reviews for deals while other firms have also been fined for irregular pricing