July 19 Reuters Chinese authorities are preparing to impose a fine of more than 1 billion on ridehailing firm Didi Global , people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday, a move that could bring an end to a probe into the firm39;s cybersecurity practices.

The people said the fine would be more than 8 billion yuan 1.28 billion, accounting for about 4.7 of Didi39;s 27.3 billion total revenue last year. They declined to be identified as the information was not yet made public.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the potential size of the fine earlier on Tuesday.

The ridehailing firm did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Didi39;s fine would be the largest regulatory penalty imposed on a Chinese tech company since ecommerce titan Alibaba Group and delivery giant Meituan were fined 2.75 billion and 527 million respectively last year by China39;s antitrust regulator.

Alibaba39;s fine equated to about 4 of its 2019 domestic sales, while Meituan39;s was equivalent to 3 of its 2020 domestic sales.

Didi39;s penalty could pave the way for Beijing to ease a restriction banning it from adding new users to its platform and allow its apps to be restored on domestic app stores.

Didi, cofounded in 2012 by former Alibaba employee Will Wei Cheng and backed by SoftBank Group and Uber Technologies, previously set aside 10 billion yuan for a potential fine, Reuters previously reported..

The company has struggled to bring its business back to normal after…