Public Enforcement of Antitrust Law in China: Perspective of Procedural Fairness

Aug 04, 2015

CPI Asia Column edited by Vanessa Yanhua Zhang (Global Economics Group) present:

Public Enforcement of Antitrust Law in China: Perspective of Procedural Fairness – Jet Deng & Ken Dai (Dacheng Law Offices)

Abstract

Some high-profile antitrust investigations such as the one against Qualcomm by the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), initiated in November 2013 and concluded in February 2015, with a sanction order almost reshaping the global wireless patent landscape, has drawn the worldwide attention to the public enforcement of antitrust law in China. Entering into the 7th year of the Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”) in force, the enforcement by China’s antitrust authorities has moved up a gear. NDRC and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (“SAIC”) have both lunched substantial enforcement actions in respect of monopoly agreements and abuse of dominance. Looking at several significant antitrust investigations and reviews, questioning and criticism on the Chinese antitrust public enforcement procedures are put forward, because it seems to the public, especially to people outside China, those China’s powerful state central bodies have a fearsome reputation. It is argued that some important documents like sanction orders are not publicly issued in complete, which results in suspicion of international community on the lack of transparency in the process of Chinese public