BEIJING: Chinese authorities have ordered a Chinese unit of Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. to pay a fine of 87.61 million yuan for setting the prices of its Lexus luxury brand cars in a manner that violates the Chinese antimonopoly law.

China's State Administration for Market Regulation announced the imposition of the order on Friday.

According to a written decision by the market supervision bureau of Jiangsu Province in eastern China, the Chinese unit of Toyota demanded that its dealers in the province set same prices for Lexus cars sold via the internet. The unit also put restrictions on the models' minimum prices set by the dealers, said the written decision, dated Dec. 6.

The supervision bureau claimed that the Toyota unit undermined customer interests by eliminating and restricting market competition.

The bureau explained that it imposed on the unit a fine equivalent to 2 percent of the company's sales in the province in 2016. The Toyota side made no allegation or explanation on the matter, according to the bureau.

Lexus models have been selling well in China. In January-November this year, the brand's sales in the country surpassed 180,000 units, up about 21 percent from a year earlier.

JIJI Press