Photo:Xinhua

Exclusive sales as a means for e-commerce platforms to prevent businesses from cooperating with their competitors will be subject to investigation for potential violation of monopoly laws, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) said on Tuesday, prior to this year's shopping event around November 11, often dubbed Double Eleven. 

According to a report by the paper.com, exclusive sales are banned under the E-Commerce Law and are a clear violation of the monopoly regulations, representatives from the SAMR said during a conference with industry representatives. 

Company representatives from JD.com, one of China's major e-commerce platforms, said that the company will avoid exclusive sales or attempts to prevent businesses from cooperating with other e-commerce platforms. 

Pingduoduo.com, the e-commerce platform famous for allowing customers to participate in group buying deals for low prices, said the company is "facing pressure" to participate in exclusive sales, the report said. 

Alibaba said the company is dedicated to providing the best experience for its customers through working with the best businesses, but the company representatives said that there are malicious interpretations of the "exclusive cooperation mode".

Double Eleven, also known as Singles Day on November 11, has come to be one of the most popular online shopping events in China, with major e-commerce platforms launching big discounts on numerous products. Last year, the trade volume reached a total of 213.5 billion yuan ($30.5 billion) for Tmall, an e-commerce platform run by Alibaba.