Chinese regulator probes auto chip dealers for price overcharging

China’s top market watchdog has started an investigation against automobile chip dealers over suspicions of price overcharging to address issues including price hyping in the market.

China’s State Administration For Market Regulation said it will keep monitoring market price order of major products such as chips, further strengthen supervision and law enforcement, and take action against illegal acts such as hoarding, price hyping, and price collusion.

The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies. A factory fire suffered by Japanese chipmaker Renesas this year is also cited as a reason behind the chip shortage.