China is preparing to launch an antitrust probe into Alphabet’s Google, looking into allegations that the company has leveraged the dominance of its Android mobile operating system to stifle competition, reported CNBC.
The case was proposed by telecommunications equipment giant Huawei Technologies last year and has been submitted by the country’s top market regulator to the State Council’s antitrust committee for review, sources said.
A decision on whether to proceed with a formal investigation may come as soon as October and could be affected by the state of China’s relationship with the United States, one of the people said.
The potential investigation follows a raft of actions by US President Donald Trump’s administration to hobble Chinese tech companies, citing national security risks.
This has included putting Huawei on the country’s trade blacklist, threatening similar action for Semiconductor Manufacturing International, and ordering TikTok owner ByteDance to divest the short-form video app.
It also comes as China embarks on a major revamp of its antitrust laws with proposed amendments including a dramatic increase in maximum fines and expanded criteria for judging a company’s control of a market.
