China Targets Online Commerce Battles in Latest Regulatory Salvo

China unveiled broad regulations Wednesday that ban major platforms such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. from coercing online merchants into promotions, one of a raft of new measures intended to cool rapidly intensifying e-commerce competition.

The guidelines take effect February and follow a series of notices from Beijing warning Alibaba and rivals including Meituan and JD.com Inc. against pressuring merchants into discounts and other measures accused of disrupting market order. A separate set of regulations, also published by the State Administration for Market Regulation and Cyberspace Administration of China, also bar online influencers from making false claims.