The Chinese authorities fined Didi on Thursday for data security violations, the latest in a series of regulatory actions that have laid low the internet sector in China.

A decision to delist from the New York Stock Exchange was made after a yearlong investigation into the data practices of the ride-sharing giant. The company would be fined by the regulators.

Millions of addresses, phone numbers, images of faces, and other data were collected by the firm.

The fine will likely clear the way for the company to list its shares in Hong Kong. Didi will not be able to put its app back on Chinese app stores if it is not allowed to register new users again. In July of last year, the government imposed restrictions on Didi.

The fine matched the penalties paid out by other Chinese internet giants, in terms of the share of the companies' annual revenue, during a nearly two year regulatory crackdown on the sector. There are indications that a frenzied period of rule-making and harsh enforcement by China's regulators may be ending.

Tech firms like Didi face a long road to recovery in the face of a broader economic slowdown and drags on activity because of China's strict Covid controls.

Didi accepted the punishment and will use it as a warning to improve its data security. The company thanked the authorities and the public for their oversight.