Johnson & Johnson hit with price-fixing fine in China

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.NYSE) and Bausch & Lomb (VRX.NYSE) were among companies fined a combined US$3 million (RMB19.6 million) for price fixing in China’s contact lens and eye-glasses market, Bloomberg reported. Essilor International (EI.EPA), Nikon (7731.TYO), Carl Zeiss Meditec (AFX.ETR) were also among the targets, with Hoya (7741.TYO) and Shanghai Weicon Optics exempted from punishment since they had voluntarily reported monopolistic practices and rectified the issue. Chinese regulators have been scrutinizing companies closely in the past year over pricing, with foreign companies drawing particular ire from authorities and state media.