China ride-hailing giant Didi fined $1.2bn after probe

China has fined ride-hailing giant Didi 8.026 billion yuan ($1.2bn; £990m) for breaking its cyber security laws.

On Thursday, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said that it had found “conclusive evidence” against the company.

The regulator announced that it had started an investigation into Didi just days after the firm launched its shares in the US last year.

Didi’s shares have since stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

The CAC also said it had imposed fines of one million yuan each on Didi Global’s chairman and chief executive Cheng Wei and president Liu Qing.

In response, Didi said it accepted the ruling and would “conduct comprehensive and in-depth self-examination”.

“We will take this as a warning and pay equal attention to both security and development,” the company said in a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Didi came under intense pressure following its US stock market debut in June last year.

Within days of the initial public offering Beijing announced a crackdown on technology companies listing overseas.

In December, Didi announced plans to exit the US stock market and relist its shares in Hong Kong.

The company has become one of the most high profile targets of the Chinese government’s tough approach to the country’s technology industry.

Authorities have been pursuing a wide-ranging crackdown on companies, from slapping e-commerce firm Alibaba with a record fine to ordering technology giant Tencent to suspend the roll out of new apps.

It ordered Didi to be removed from app stores last year and launched an investigation, citing data collection concerns, days after the firm moved forward with its New York listing, reportedly against authorities’ wishes.

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