Chinese tech giants are facing heightened pressure from local authorities who are worried about their monopoly power.
Yesterday, Tencent 'lost' more than US $ 60 billion of its market value after the company's share price plummeted due to concerns over tighter regulatory authorities.
Local media reported that Alibaba is likely to sell some of its media assets.
Chinese authorities have imposed stricter measures on technology firms.
The Administration for National Market Regulation of China (SAMR) on Friday said a total of 12 companies had been fined over 10 agreements that violated anti-monopoly rules.
According to SAMR in a statement, the companies include Tencent, Baidu, Didi Chuxing, Softbank and ByteDance-backed firms.
Investors fear Tencent will be the next company to be subject to action.
Tencent is one of the largest technology companies in China with over one billion users on its WeChat messaging site.
Its founder, Pony Ma, is the richest man in the country. Tencent was also a key player in China’s digital payments market when it introduced WeChat Pay to compete with Ant Group’s AliPay.
Media reports mention Ant and Tencent may have to develop several different holding companies including banking, payment services and insurance.
According to local CCTV broadcasting station, Chinese President Xi Jinping instructed authorities to increase surveillance of technology firms, curb monopolies and promote fair competition.
The action by the Chinese government came after Alibaba founder Jack Ma condemned Beijing authorities' actions against the financial technology sector last year.
Since then, authorities have launched an anti-monopoly investigation against Alibaba.
