A Chinese antitrust probe into whether Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. abused its dominant market position casts a spotlight on long-standing contentions from merchants and rivals that the e-commerce giant pressures some sellers to operate only on its platforms.
The antimonopoly investigation, revealed by Beijing’s State Administration for Market Regulation on Thursday, adds to pressure on China’s biggest tech giants, which have spent much of the past year reeling from a concerted Trump administration attempt to block them from accessing U.S. markets and suppliers.
The timing of the Alibaba probe, which was coupled Thursday with a regulatory summons for Ant Group, Alibaba’s giant…
