Chinese regulators said they have fined Ant Group 7.123 billion yuan (£769 million), claiming the financial technology provider violated laws related to corporate governance and consumer rights.

The People’s Bank of China imposed the fine on Friday.

In a statement, Ant Group said: “We will comply with the terms of the penalty in all earnestness and sincerity and continue to further enhance our compliance governance.”

According to the Bank of China, Ant violated laws and regulations related to corporate governance, financial consumer protection, participation in business activities of banking and insurance institutions, payment and settlement business and attending to anti-money laundering obligations.

The company, founded by Jack Ma, is an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba, which Mr Ma also founded.

In January, it was announced that Mr Ma would give up control of Ant Group.

The move followed other efforts over the years by the Chinese government to rein in Mr Ma and the country’s tech sector more broadly.

Two years ago, the once high-profile Mr Ma largely disappeared from view for two-and-a-half months after criticising China’s regulators.

Around the same time, the government also forced Ant Group to call off a highly-anticipated IPO that would have raised more than three billion US dollars (£2.3 billion), just days before it was due to launch.

Yet Mr Ma’s surrender of control came after other signs that the government was easing up on Chinese online firms.

At an economic work conference late last year, Beijing signalled it would support technology firms to boost economic growth and create more jobs.

Also in January, the government said it would allow Ant Group to raise 1.5 billion dollars (£1.16 billion) in capital for its consumer finance unit.