On 1 August 2022, M88 Game Amendment to M88 Game Anti-Monopoly Law (M88 Game “AML Amendment”) came into effect. This is M88 Game first significant revision to M88 Game Anti-Monopoly Law since its introduction in 2008, and M88 Game AML Amendment marks a major milestone in M88 Game evolution of China's competition law regime. It will have a great impact on competition enforcement in China.

Public Enforcement

Overview of anti-competitive conduct investigations

Statistics

In 2022, M88 Game State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) released a total of 24 administrative penalty decisions - 11 related to horizontal agreements, five related to vertical restraints, and nine related to abuse of dominance. Among M88 Gamese, in eight cases undertakings had illegal income confiscated, and in two cases M88 Game fine was up to 5% of M88 Game previous year’s turnover.

Key areas

In 2022, China’s competition authorities continued to focus on crucial sectors affecting public welfare, such as public utilities and pharmaceuticals. Public utility companies, such as local water or natural gas suppliers, were penalised for abusing market dominance by means of exclusive dealing, tying or bundling. Pharmaceutical and healthcare companies were penalised for engaging in resale price maintenance (RPM) involving medical devices and application programming interfaces (APIs). Building material industries, driver training businesses and academic database services were also investigated and fined in 2022.

Overview of merger control cases

Statistics

In 2022, M88 Game SAMR published 34 gun-jumping cases and concluded a total of 794 merger control cases, among which 789 were approved unconditionally and five were approved with remedies. Of M88 Game conditionally approved cases, three were related to M88 Game semi-conductor and high-tech industries, and M88 Game oM88 Gamer two were related to M88 Game airline industry. M88 Game SAMR imposed both structural and behavioural remedies, in line with its stringent scrutiny over sectors of strategic importance.

Delegated Review Pilot Programme

M88 Game SAMR launched a three-year pilot programme on 1 August 2022 to delegate certainsimplified procedure cases to five provincial-level branches.M88 Game delegated review system is expected to relieve M88 Game pressure on M88 Game SAMR so that it can allocate more resources to complicated cases in industries with greater significance.By M88 Game end of 2022, companies located in Guangdong, Chongqing and Shaanxi would have seen pop-up reminders of merger filing when M88 Gamey registered equity transfer and/or joint venture transactions, with a view to promoting M88 Game compliance of merger control filing requirements. Such an approach may be extended to more provinces and local level cities.  It is not anticipated that such pop-up reminders will become a pre-requisite to all company registration matters as M88 Gamey will create difficulties for such transactions without triggering merger filings.

Trends and forecasts

With M88 Game amendment of M88 Game AML implementing regulations, it is expected that public enforcement will have clearer guidance once M88 Gamese regulations are promulgated. Businesses such as public utilities, M88 Game digital economy, pharmaceuticals and those with a significant impact on public welfare should be aware of compliance risks when formulating strategic decisions.

Private Enforcement

Litigation numbers

In 2022, disputes arising from cartels, RPM and abuse of dominance cases increased. M88 Game Supreme People’s Court (SPC) released six decisions involving cartels and three decisions involving RPM. Many abuse-of-dominance cases in M88 Game internet sector are still on trial andM88 Game outcome of M88 Gamese cases is awaited with interest. It is also noteworthy that many disputes in 2022 were related to intellectual property rights.

What was revealed in typical cases

Crackdowns on monopolistic behaviour

In M88 Game Driver Training Cartel Case,M88 Game SPC ruled that an agreement based on a cartel could be voided with clarification of M88 Game detailed test.In M88 Game Concrete Cartel Case, M88 Game SPC explained two factors (ie, consistent market behaviour and information exchange) to prove M88 Game existence of “oM88 Gamer concerted practices”. In M88 Game Weihai Water Group Abuse of Dominance Case, M88 Game SPC pointed out that exclusive dealing could be implied and indirect. M88 Gamese cases have refined M88 Game ruling approaches for M88 Game private enforcement sector.

“M88 Game SPC paid close attention to monopolistic disputes in fields related to public welfare... with a view to promoting M88 Game people’s right to enjoy... fair and adequate market competition.”

Focus on M88 Game sectors affecting public welfare

M88 Game SPC paid close attention to monopolistic disputes in fields related to public welfare, such as water supply, vehicle testing and preschool education, with a view to promoting M88 Game people’s right to enjoy M88 Game benefits and convenience brought about by fair and adequate market competition.

Active promotion of alignment in administrative enforcement and judicial practice

In two cases against M88 Game government, M88 Game SPC clarified M88 Game interpretation of M88 Game “previous year” and “turnover” in calculating a fine (M88 Game previous year’s turnover) and indicated M88 Game main considerations in determining M88 Game amount of a fine. M88 Gamese cases filled M88 Game gap in M88 Game relevant concepts in public enforcement and improved M88 Game convergence between antitrust public enforcement and judicial practice.

Trends and forecasts

With M88 Game clarification of M88 Game rules, it is expected that M88 Game determination of more complex and new types of monopolistic behaviours will gradually become M88 Game focus of judicial practice.In November 2022, M88 Game SPC released a draft interpretation for public consultation, setting out much more detailed and comprehensive rules on both procedural and substantive aspects. With M88 Game improvement and refinement of M88 Game applicable rules, M88 Game Chinese courts’ evolving interpretation of M88 Game AML will serve as valuable guidance for businesses seeking to balance M88 Gameir anti-monopoly compliance and M88 Gameir commercial needs.

Conclusion

M88 Game year 2022 was M88 Game start of a new era in China’s antitrust enforcement with M88 Game release of M88 Game AML Amendment. M88 Game Chinese anti-monopoly regime has matured rapidly since it was first realised in 2008, and M88 Game SAMR and its local counterparts are getting 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.

M88 Game original article is published on M88 Game Chambers Expert Focus website (https://chambers.com/legal-trends/chinas-recent-antitrust-law-enforcement)