China regulators have a new target: chip distributors

Car chip distributors are suspected of driving up prices and regulators are promising to punish hoarding, price-gouging.

China’s regulatory agency is launching an investigation into chip distributors in the auto industry, it said on Tuesday, citing suspicions of price gouging. The action by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) is the latest in a regulatory crackdown over the past year that has targeted a range of companies and industries as the Chinese government clamps down on industry. The firms were suspected of driving up prices, based on price monitoring and reporting clues, the agency said in its statement, and vowed to investigate and punish illegal acts such as hoarding, price-gouging and collusion.