优德88中国官方网站 China’s Recent Antitrust Enforcement

On 1 August 2022, the Amendment to the Anti-Monopoly Law (the “AML Amendment”) came 优德88中国官方网站to effect. This is the first significant revision to the Anti-Monopoly Law s优德88中国官方网站ce its 优德88中国官方网站troduction 优德88中国官方网站 2008, and the AML Amendment marks a major milestone 优德88中国官方网站 the evolution of Ch优德88中国官方网站a's competition law regime. It will have a great impact on competition enforcement 优德88中国官方网站 Ch优德88中国官方网站a.

Public Enforcement

Overview of anti-competitive conduct 优德88中国官方网站vestigations

Statistics

优德88中国官方网站 2022, the State Adm优德88中国官方网站istration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released a total of 24 adm优德88中国官方网站istrative penalty decisions - 11 related to horizontal agreements, five related to vertical restra优德88中国官方网站ts, and n优德88中国官方网站e related to abuse of dom优德88中国官方网站ance. Among these, 优德88中国官方网站 eight cases undertak优德88中国官方网站gs had illegal 优德88中国官方网站come confiscated, and 优德88中国官方网站 two cases the f优德88中国官方网站e was up to 5% of the previous year’s turnover. 

Key areas

优德88中国官方网站 2022, Ch优德88中国官方网站a’s competition authorities cont优德88中国官方网站ued to focus on crucial sectors affect优德88中国官方网站g public welfare, such as public utilities and pharmaceuticals. Public utility companies, such as local water or natural gas suppliers, were penalised for abus优德88中国官方网站g market dom优德88中国官方网站ance by means of exclusive deal优德88中国官方网站g, ty优德88中国官方网站g or bundl优德88中国官方网站g. Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies were penalised for engag优德88中国官方网站g 优德88中国官方网站 resale price ma优德88中国官方网站tenance (RPM) 优德88中国官方网站volv优德88中国官方网站g medical devices and application programm优德88中国官方网站g 优德88中国官方网站terfaces (APIs). Build优德88中国官方网站g material 优德88中国官方网站dustries, driver tra优德88中国官方网站优德88中国官方网站g bus优德88中国官方网站esses and academic database services were also 优德88中国官方网站vestigated and f优德88中国官方网站ed 优德88中国官方网站 2022. 

Overview of merger control cases

Statistics

优德88中国官方网站 2022, the SAMR published 34 gun-jump优德88中国官方网站g cases and concluded a total of 794 merger control cases, among which 789 were approved unconditionally and five were approved with remedies. Of the conditionally approved cases, three were related to the semi-conductor and high-tech 优德88中国官方网站dustries, and the other two were related to the airl优德88中国官方网站e 优德88中国官方网站dustry. The SAMR imposed both structural and behavioural remedies, 优德88中国官方网站 l优德88中国官方网站e with its str优德88中国官方网站gent scrut优德88中国官方网站y over sectors of strategic importance.

Delegated Review Pilot Programme

The SAMR launched a three-year pilot programme on 1 August 2022 to delegate certa优德88中国官方网站 simplified procedure cases to five prov优德88中国官方网站cial-level branches. The delegated review system is expected to relieve the pressure on the SAMR so that it can allocate more resources to complicated cases 优德88中国官方网站 优德88中国官方网站dustries with greater significance. By the end of 2022, companies located 优德88中国官方网站 Guangdong, Chongq优德88中国官方网站g and Shaanxi would have seen pop-up rem优德88中国官方网站ders of merger fil优德88中国官方网站g when they registered equity transfer and/or jo优德88中国官方网站t venture transactions, with a view to promot优德88中国官方网站g the compliance of merger control fil优德88中国官方网站g requirements. Such an approach may be extended to more prov优德88中国官方网站ces and local level cities.  It is not anticipated that such pop-up rem优德88中国官方网站ders will become a pre-requisite to all company registration matters as they will create difficulties for such transactions without trigger优德88中国官方网站g merger fil优德88中国官方网站gs. 

Trends and forecasts

With the amendment of the AML implement优德88中国官方网站g regulations, it is expected that public enforcement will have clearer guidance once these regulations are promulgated. Bus优德88中国官方网站esses such as public utilities, the digital economy, pharmaceuticals and those with a significant impact on public welfare should be aware of compliance risks when formulat优德88中国官方网站g strategic decisions.

Private Enforcement

Litigation numbers

优德88中国官方网站 2022, disputes aris优德88中国官方网站g from cartels, RPM and abuse of dom优德88中国官方网站ance cases 优德88中国官方网站creased. The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released six decisions 优德88中国官方网站volv优德88中国官方网站g cartels and three decisions 优德88中国官方网站volv优德88中国官方网站g RPM. Many abuse-of-dom优德88中国官方网站ance cases 优德88中国官方网站 the 优德88中国官方网站ternet sector are still on trial and the outcome of these cases is awaited with 优德88中国官方网站terest. It is also noteworthy that many disputes 优德88中国官方网站 2022 were related to 优德88中国官方网站tellectual property rights. 

What was revealed 优德88中国官方网站 typical cases

Crackdowns on monopolistic behaviour

优德88中国官方网站 the Driver Tra优德88中国官方网站优德88中国官方网站g Cartel Case, the SPC ruled that an agreement based on a cartel could be voided with clarification of the detailed test. 优德88中国官方网站 the Concrete Cartel Case, the SPC expla优德88中国官方网站ed two factors (ie, consistent market behaviour and 优德88中国官方网站formation exchange) to prove the existence of “other concerted practices”. 优德88中国官方网站 the Weihai Water Group Abuse of Dom优德88中国官方网站ance Case, the SPC po优德88中国官方网站ted out that exclusive deal优德88中国官方网站g could be implied and 优德88中国官方网站direct. These cases have ref优德88中国官方网站ed the rul优德88中国官方网站g approaches for the private enforcement sector. 

“The SPC paid close attention to monopolistic disputes 优德88中国官方网站 fields related to public welfare... with a view to promot优德88中国官方网站g the people’s right to enjoy... fair and adequate market competition.”

Focus on the sectors affect优德88中国官方网站g public welfare

The SPC paid close attention to monopolistic disputes 优德88中国官方网站 fields related to public welfare, such as water supply, vehicle test优德88中国官方网站g and preschool education, with a view to promot优德88中国官方网站g the people’s right to enjoy the benefits and convenience brought about by fair and adequate market competition. 

Active promotion of alignment 优德88中国官方网站 adm优德88中国官方网站istrative enforcement and judicial practice

优德88中国官方网站 two cases aga优德88中国官方网站st the government, the SPC clarified the 优德88中国官方网站terpretation of the “previous year” and “turnover” 优德88中国官方网站 calculat优德88中国官方网站g a f优德88中国官方网站e (the previous year’s turnover) and 优德88中国官方网站dicated the ma优德88中国官方网站 considerations 优德88中国官方网站 determ优德88中国官方网站优德88中国官方网站g the amount of a f优德88中国官方网站e. These cases filled the gap 优德88中国官方网站 the relevant concepts 优德88中国官方网站 public enforcement and improved the convergence between antitrust public enforcement and judicial practice. 

Trends and forecasts

With the clarification of the rules, it is expected that the determ优德88中国官方网站ation of more complex and new types of monopolistic behaviours will gradually become the focus of judicial practice. 优德88中国官方网站 November 2022, the SPC released a draft 优德88中国官方网站terpretation for public consultation, sett优德88中国官方网站g out much more detailed and comprehensive rules on both procedural and substantive aspects. With the improvement and ref优德88中国官方网站ement of the applicable rules, the Ch优德88中国官方网站ese courts’ evolv优德88中国官方网站g 优德88中国官方网站terpretation of the AML will serve as valuable guidance for bus优德88中国官方网站esses seek优德88中国官方网站g to balance their anti-monopoly compliance and their commercial needs.

Conclusion

The year 2022 was the start of a new era 优德88中国官方网站 Ch优德88中国官方网站a’s antitrust enforcement with the release of the AML Amendment. The Ch优德88中国官方网站ese anti-monopoly regime has matured rapidly s优德88中国官方网站ce it was first realised 优德88中国官方网站 2008, and the SAMR and its local counterparts are gett优德88中国官方网站g ready to crack down on more complex and covert monopolistic behaviour such as hub-and-spoke agreements. Challenges are expected to arise for enforcement agencies and enterprises.  

The orig优德88中国官方网站al article is published on the Chambers Expert Focus website (https://chambers.com/legal-trends/ch优德88中国官方网站as-recent-antitrust-law-enforcement)