China Telecom, China Unicom Under Anti-trust Probe

For years, China's state-owned enterprises have been government darlings, enjoying preferential policies that have allowed them to thrive while other private companies tottered.

But now, the latest critic of state-owned enterprises is, well, the state itself. 

On November 9, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that it is in the midst of an anti-trust probe into two telecommunications giants—China Telecom and China Unicom. The two companies face upwards of 8 billion yuan in fines.

It is the first time the Chinese government has targeted any state-owned company on anti-trust allegations, ever since China ushered in a new set of anti-monopoly regulations in 2008.