17 January 2026

China Gets a Couple of Things Right

Th PRC has decided to ban algorithmic price discrimination.

Chinese regulators have issued new rules to curb e-commerce platforms’ use of consumer data to charge different prices for the same goods or services, targeting a long-criticized practice in which loyal or high-spending users were often quoted higher prices than others.

The measures, announced Jan. 7 by multiple government agencies, tighten oversight of algorithmic pricing and data profiling, marking the clearest move yet to draw a regulatory line between “big data” price discrimination and lawful promotions after years of consumer complaints and court cases.

Under the new rules, platforms are prohibited from using data profiling to offer different prices to different users, and barred from practices that restrict consumer rights or shift liability without notice.

For years, loyal or high-spending users of platforms ranging from travel apps to social media shops have complained that they are often quoted higher prices than others, prompting some to experiment with ways to “game” opaque pricing algorithms — from switching devices to masking browsing behavior.

This shit, which includes things like Uber's surge pricing, should be illegal everywhere.

Also, China is cracking down on high frequency trading.

Chinese stock markets have come under renewed pressure in recent days as Beijing intensifies its clampdown on high-frequency trading, a move that has rattled sentiment but reflects a deeper regulatory shift toward control and stability amid a US$1.2 trillion rally.

………

Commodities futures exchanges in Shanghai and Guangzhou have instructed brokers to relocate client servers away from exchange-operated data centers, a step that removes the ultra-low-latency access on which high-frequency trading strategies depend, Bloomberg reported.

While the changes apply to all market participants, high-frequency traders are expected to bear the brunt of the impact. The Shanghai Futures Exchange has set staggered deadlines for server relocation, requiring equipment used by high-speed trading clients to be removed by the end of February, with other clients given until April 30, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.

In addition, some futures exchanges have drawn up preliminary plans to impose an extra two milliseconds of latency on connections routed through third-party data centers, the people said. Any such delay would be layered on top of the additional lag firms already face from relocating servers away from exchanges, further diluting the speed advantages enjoyed by high-frequency traders.

China is looking at making sure that businesses provide useful goods and services, and that investment is more important than various forms of exotic trading that turn markets into casinos.

Maybe we should address this shit in the USA as well? 

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