China Considers an Inquiry into Apple's Policies and App Store Fees

China's antitrust regulator is preparing to investigate Apple's policies and App Store fees, according to reports. The development comes a day after China announced measures targeting US businesses such as Google, farm equipment manufacturers, and the owner of fashion brand Calvin Klein, and just minutes after new US tariffs on Chinese goods went into effect.

According to the report, the country's State Administration for Market Regulation is reviewing Apple's policies, which include a 30-percent commission on in-app purchases and restrictions on external payment services and app stores.

Chinese regulators have been in talks with Apple executives and app developers since last year, according to the report.

The regulator said on Tuesday that Google was suspected of breaking the country's anti-monopoly law. It did not provide any additional information about the investigation or what Google allegedly did to violate the law.

In an article published on Tuesday in the state-owned People's Daily newspaper, Tsinghua University professor Zhang Chenying suggested that the investigation could be related to Google's Android operating system business.

She claimed that Google had used its dominant position to impose technological and business restrictions on Chinese mobile phone manufacturers, but she did not specify where she had obtained this information.

Separately, China's Commerce Ministry announced that PVH Corp, the holding company for brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, and US biotechnology firm Illumina had been added to its "unreliable entity" list.