China imposes record anti-trust fine on Qualcomm

Chinese authorities have imposed a record fine of 6.09 billion yuan (994 million U.S. dollars) on mobile chip maker Qualcomm following an anti-trust probe, it was announced Tuesday.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Qualcomm was found to have abused its market dominance, charging discriminatory fees in the Chinese market when licensing mobile chip technology.

"Qualcomm's practices hampered innovation and technology development, harmed consumers' rights and interests, and violated China's relevant anti-monopoly rules," according to an NDRC statement.

The watchdog issued a fine of 8 percent of the company's revenue in the Chinese market for 2013, totaling 6.09 billion yuan, the largest anti-trust fine in China's history.

Qualcomm said in a company statement on Tuesday that it would honor the fine and modify its licensing practices.

Qualcomm was also quoted as saying in the NDRC statement that it would continue to increase investment in China to seek better development.