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Tencent
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Tencent hit with fresh anti-monopoly complaint, this time from GM China venture

  • A General Motors venture with SAIC Motor Corp, along with smart vehicle tech supplier PATEO, jointly filed the complaint to Chinese regulators
  • Their accusations were refuted by Tencent, which sued PATEO last year for alleged trademark infringement and unfair competition

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Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings faces another complaint over alleged monopolistic practices. Photo: Reuters
Reuters
Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings has become the target of a fresh anti-monopoly complaint to regulators, this time from a supplier of smart vehicle technology and a General Motors China venture.
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The supplier, Shanghai-based PATEO, in a statement accused Tencent of abusing its messaging app’s dominant market position to restrict sales of its products.

PATEO offers voice recognition features and other mobile applications that rely on Tencent’s multipurpose super app WeChat. The company said Tencent has been asking car companies to stop using its Internet of Vehicles products since August 2020.

Shenzhen-based Tencent refuted the accusations in a statement posted on its official WeChat account on Tuesday. It said the company filed a lawsuit against PATEO in September last year for alleged trademark infringement and unfair competition.

A Baojun electric vehicle stands plugged to a charging station outside the SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co joint venture’s plant in Liuzhou, Guangxi province, on May 23, 2018. Photo: Bloomberg
A Baojun electric vehicle stands plugged to a charging station outside the SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co joint venture’s plant in Liuzhou, Guangxi province, on May 23, 2018. Photo: Bloomberg
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PATEO‘s app, developed in 2019, accessed users’ sensitive data on WeChat, including their contact list and chat history without authorisation from either the users or Tencent, according to the statement. It said the featured functionalities of that app could endanger driver safety.

Tencent also indicated that PATEO and the GM venture have publicly marketed its app using the trademarks of WeChat, which misleads users and partners.

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