© Stringer / ReutersA worker drives a car past the parking lot of a General Motors factory in Shanghai.
According to the director of the National Development and Reform Commission Zhang Handong, Chinese investigators found an unnamed American car producer instructed distributors to fix prices from 2014.
"We are unaware of the issue," said Mark Truby, Ford's chief spokesman for its Asia-Pacific operations.
"GM fully respects local laws and regulations wherever we operate. We do not comment on media speculation," the company said.
According to Reuters, the penalty comes after a government crackdown on antitrust violations by foreign car producers. Targeted firms include Audi, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Nissan.
"I don't think NDRC had only made a decision two weeks ago or a week ago. This is a long-term plan for them," said Reuters' source at a government-affiliated industry association.
Zhang Handong said no one should "read anything improper" into the timing or target of the penalty.
There has been speculation in Western media that the antitrust ruling coincides with the growing tension between China and the United States following Donald Trump's election as president.
The media in China has covered the issue. An article in the China Daily urged Trump not to break economic relations with China.
"History proves that what is good for Sino-US relations is good for their economies," it said, adding that Chinese customers bought about 35 percent of GM vehicles sold last year.
"For the American economy to be great again... the US needs to cement its economic relations with China, rather than destroy them," the article added.
It's not new to any kind of industry and of course there are anti-monopolistic laws for this. For example even Microsoft had paid a huge fine in the past for monopolistic behavior. In this case and it's only speculation on my part first of all it has nothing to do with politics and possibly it was what has been happening in the U.S. for years. The big three in the U.S. have suppliers, parts suppliers that provide all the big three with the same parts. Now in this case the Chinese thought that the part supplier company, that's why there isn't a name, otherwise we would have one, was a car manufacturer company, which was probably a car parts supplier that was selling whatever part to everyone at the same price. That's not price fixing , on the contrary it's absolutely fair. As usual the Chinese are getting ahead of themselves in areas they don't know much about and they make mistakes. It's unavoidable.