China National Knowledge Infrastructure fined for monopolistic behavior

The State Administration for Market Regulation, China's top market regulator, imposed a fine of 87.6 million yuan ($12.58 million) on China National Knowledge Infrastructure, the country's largest online academic database, for monopolistic behaviors on Monday.

According to the SAMR, the fine was five percent of CNKI's domestic revenue last year. Since 2014, CNKI has abused its dominant position to sell its database services at unfairly high prices. It has also restricted academic journals and universities by signing exclusive cooperation agreements.

Such behaviors have impeded competition within China's academic database service market, infringed on the legitimate rights and interests of users, and affected the innovation and development of related markets and academic exchanges, the market regulator said.

In May, the SAMR launched an antitrust investigation into CNKI, weeks after the Chinese Academy of Sciences said it would suspend its use of the database because of its hefty annual fees.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn