China's State Administration for Market Regulation on Thursday started an investigation into Vipshop (China) Co., Ltd. and Guangzhou Vipshop E-Commerce Co., Ltd. for alleged practices of unfair competition.

Vipshop posted on its official Weibo account that it had received a notice from the market regulator and will actively cooperate with regulatory investigations.

China has recently stepped up efforts to prohibit unfair competition. The apparel and beauty platform was fined 500,000 yuan ($77,200) for irregular pricing in December.