(Yicai Global) May 2 -- China's listed Internet companies saw their market value fall during the first quarter of the year, due to the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.

Their market value fell to CNY11.1 trillion yuan (USD1.58 trillion) at the end of March, down 4.2 percent from the end of December.

The academy attributed the decline to the violent fluctuations in the global capital markets caused by the ongoing pandemic.

Alibaba and Meituan Dianping, the country's biggest and third-biggest Internet firms, saw their market value down 9 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively, during the first quarter. However, the market value of Tencent, the second-biggest, rose 1.7 percent.

Editor: Xia Ruirui