58.com CEO Calls for Four Billion Yuan Anti-monopoly Fine on Beike

Shortly after the State Administration of Market Supervision imposed an administrative penalty of 18.2 billion yuan on Alibaba for monopolistic behavior, 58.com CEO Yao Jinbo on April 10 posted in his WeChat Moments to call for a national antitrust fine of four billion yuan to be imposed on its own competitor Beike, China’s leading online real estate platform.

Yao Jinbo said that Anjuke, 58.com’s subsidiary, will enter the field of new house transactions as a challenger this year, hoping that healthy competition will make the industry fairer and easier for ordinary people to buy houses.

In response to Yan’s plea, Beike commented to Chinese media outlet The Paper that “since its inception, Beike has adhered to lawful management, improved compliance, and used technology to drive the healthy development of the industry.”

Anjuke is a real estate information service platform and a subsidiary of 58.com. On April 8 this year, the website of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange showed that Anjuke formally submitted a listing application to the Stock Exchange, officially opening the road to going public in Hong Kong.

SEE ALSO: Chinese Regulators Issue a $2.8 Billion Fine Against Alibaba for Violating Anti-Monopoly laws

Currently, Anjuke’s main business is providing online marketing services for new and second-hand houses, in addition to owning two brands, Aifang and Qiaofang. According to the prospectus, Aifang, the new house trading platform of Anjuke, has now expanded its business to 33 cities. The total transaction volume of Aifang in 2020 will reach 65.3 billion yuan, an increase of 282% from 2019. Qiaofang provides SaaS solutions to help real estate brokers digitize their work processes and improve efficiency. At the same time, it provides recruitment, training and other value-added services to empower brokerage brands and brokers.