<br>July 19 (Reuters) – Chinese authorities are preparing to impose a fine of more than $1 billion on ride-hailing firm Didi Global, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, a move that could bring an end to a probe into the firm’s cybersecurity practices.<br> <br>The people said the fine would be more than 8 billion yuan ($1.28 billion), accounting for about 4.7% of Didi’s $27.3 billion total revenue last year.

They declined to be identified as the information was not yet made public.<br> <br>The Wall Street Journal first reported the potential size of the fine earlier on Tuesday.<br> <br>The ride-hailing firm did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.<br> <br>Didi’s fine would be the largest regulatory penalty imposed on a Chinese tech company since e-commerce titan Alibaba Group and delivery giant Meituan were fined $2.75 billion and $527 million respectively last year by China’s antitrust regulator.<br> <br>Alibaba’s fine equated to about 4% of its 2019 domestic sales, while Meituan’s was equivalent to 3% of its 2020 domestic sales.<br> <br>Didi’s penalty could pave the way for Beijing to ease a restriction banning it from adding new users to its platform and allow its apps to be restored on domestic app stores.<br> <br>Didi, co-founded in 2012 by former Alibaba employee Will Wei Cheng and backed by SoftBank Group and Uber Technologies, previously set aside 10 billion yuan for a potential fine, Reuters previously reported.<br> <br>The company has struggled to bring its business back to normal after angering Chinese regulators by pushing ahead with its $4.4 billion New York listing in June 2021 despite being asked to put the float on hold.<br> <br>Days after Didi went public, China’s powerful internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China, launched a cybersecurity probe into the company’s data practices and 대형중고화물차매매 ordered app stores to remove 25 mobile apps operated by Didi.p>The restrictions have chipping away at Didi’s dominance and allowed rival ride-hailing services operated by automakers Geely and SAIC Motor to gain market share.p>The company announced it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange in December, and 중고트럭매매 won its shareholders’ nod for 대형중고화물차매매 the plan in May.<br>> Shares of Didi soared in their initial public offering (IPO), giving the company a valuation of $80 billion. It was the biggest U.S.

listing by a Chinese firm since 2014.<br>> Besides Didi, the CAC also launched cybersecurity reviews of Full Truck Alliance and online recruitment firm Kanzhun Ltd July 2021.<br>> Kanzhun and Full Truck Alliance said on June 29 the regulator had given their apps the go-ahead to resume new user registrations.<br>> ($1 = 6.7405 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Julie Zhu and Xie Yu in Hong Kong; Yingzhi Yang in Beijing and Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni and Edmund B<br>)