China’s State Council has appointed a female deputy minister at its market regulator to head the antitrust bureau, reported Reuters.
Gan Lin, currently deputy minister of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), rose to prominence earlier this year for her role in the anti-monopoly campaign.
Related: Enforcing Anti-Monopoly Law Against Big Tech in China
The statement announcing her appointment also for the first time referred to SAMR’s antitrust unit as the National Anti-monopoly Bureau.
The change in name and seniority of the bureaucrat in charge could herald an upgrade in the anti-trust bureau’s status.
Urged on by President Xi Jinping, the once low-profile SAMR made headlines this year with a push to root-out and penalise anticompetitive behaviour, particularly in the vast online “platform” economy.
