China has fined Didi more than 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), ending a year-long investigation of the ride-sharing giant, which is part of Beijing’s campaign to rein in powerful internet companies.

China’s Cyberspace Administration said in a statement that the regulators fined Didi CEO Cheng Wei and board chairwoman Gan Liu one million yuan each. Didi was found to have violated three laws and these illegal operations threaten national security, according to the Chinese administration.

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The decision was long overdue after the company’s $4.4 billion US initial public offering in June 2021, which came against Beijing’s wishes. The ruling removes some of the uncertainty that once wiped out more than 80% of the company’s market value. The announcement suggests that the worst may have passed, and it reinforces expectations that Beijing is loosening its grip on the huge tech sector at a time when its economy is sagging under the weight of Covid restrictions and global inflation.

Major Didi apps are now expected to appear again in China’s mobile stores, allowing the transportation services giant to add new users and continue to grow.

“Our investigation found that Didi’s data management actions severely impacted national security,” according to the agency, which wrote using a Chinese pronunciation to imply that Didi promises one thing and does the opposite.

The penalties were less than the worst fear of some industry watchers, who had expected tougher penalties for the company. Didi is one of the companies that were at the center of the crackdown on the Internet industry that Beijing began in 2020, when it halted the Ant Group Co.’s IPO. The stringency with which regulators have cracked down on Diddy, including forcing it to write off its shares months after its highly publicized initial public offering, means investors may be reluctant to declare an end to the industry’s troubles.

Chinese technology stocks increased their gains in Hong Kong today. The Hang Seng Technology Index rose more than 1%, as Alibaba Group Holdings and Tencent Holdings, the two largest companies, recouped some of their previous losses.

“The government’s disregard for investor capital in punishing Didi and the massive destruction of company value due to the investigation are not things that can be easily forgotten,” said V Cern Ling, managing director of Union Bancaire Privee in Singapore. “Closing the investigation may bring some relief but it remains to be seen if (Didi)’s business can eventually recover.”

Didi said in a statement that it would “accept and obey” the regulators’ decision while working with the agency to complete the “correction.”