Urged by central bank, China weighs antitrust probe into Alipay, WeChat Pay

Any investigation would likely dampen enthusiasm for Ant Group's planned dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai that is seeking a valuation of more than $200 billion

China's top antitrust agency is looking at whether to launch a probe into Alipay and WeChat Pay, prompted by the central bank which argues the digital payment giants have used their dominant positions to quash competition, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The State Council's anti-trust committee has been gathering information on Alipay, owned by Ant Group which in turn is an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd , as well as on Tencent Holdings Ltd's WeChat Pay for more than a month, they said.

Any investigation would likely dampen enthusiasm for Ant Group's planned dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai