Chinese regulators accused leading e-commerce platforms of misleading marketing tactics ahead of 618, the country’s second-largest annual shopping bonanza.

The scolding dented shares of Alibaba and JD.com and came weeks after regulators told the companies to avoid an aggressive price war that has squeezed profits and set the government back in its fight against deflation.

Beijing has looked to curb so-called “involution” among e-commerce players since 2024, but “what has changed is regulators’ willingness to publicize their enforcement activities,” a strategist said.

Alibaba’s Taobao and JD.com have also recently rolled out AI features, but some of the agents provided misleading product information, a China tech newsletter wrote.