(Yicai Global) April 20 -- Minmetals Development’s shares sank after the Chinese metals trader said regulators have launched an antitrust investigation into a unit that was previously a joint venture with e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding.

Minmetals [SHA:600058] fell 6.2 percent today to close at CNY7.74 (USD1.19), after earlier plunging as much as 9.9 percent. The broader Shanghai Composite Index was little changed.

The State Administration for Market Regulation recently notified Minmetals that it will probe Longteng Digital Technology, a business-to-business steel e-commerce platform, over suspected monopolistic activity, the Beijing-based company said yesterday.

Alibaba took a 44 percent stake in Longteng Digital in November 2015 and provided technical support. Alibaba sold its entire stake in the business, which was known as Minmetals E-Commerce until last month, to E-Commodities Beijing Supply Chain Management in December 2019.

Hangzhou-based Alibaba has come into the crosshairs of China’s market regulators in the past year. Earlier this month, the SAMR fined Alibaba a record CNY18.23 billion (USD2.78 billion) for abusing its dominant market position.

Editor: Tom Litting