The People's Bank of China imposed fines totaling 18.04 million yuan on four companies, including Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s online payment platform Tenpay and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., for various regulatory violations, Caixin reported Jan. 1.

The central bank imposed an 8.7 million yuan fine on Tenpay for breaches including offering payment services for illegal transactions; a 6.14 million yuan fine on Shenzhen Tempus Global Business Service Holdings Ltd.'s online payment company for offering illegal payment services and other violations; and a 2.3 million yuan fine on Agricultural Bank of China.

In addition, the central bank fined China Development Bank unit China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co. Ltd. 90,000 yuan.

The central bank imposed the fines as part of Chinese authorities' increased scrutiny of financial technology companies over financial stability concerns. The report came a day after the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission asked all internet platforms to investigate their financial technology businesses and fix problems, Reuters reported.

As of Dec. 31, 2020, US$1 was equivalent to 6.53 Chinese yuan.