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By Susan Ning, Kate Peng and Yunlong Zhang

The Price Bureau of Guangdong Province (“GDPB“) recently published an article about an investigation in a price-fixing cartel among sea sand dredging companies on its official website 1.  According to the article, the price of sea sand in Guangdong province rose from around RMB20 per cubic meter to over RMB40 per cubic meter since 2009, which seriously affected the progress of many major infrastructure projects of the State.  This unusual trend attracted the attention of the government of Guangdong province.  In order to find out the reason behind the price increase, GDPB initiated an investigation in February 2012 under the guidance of the Price Supervision and Anti-monopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC“).
Continue Reading Price Bureau Uncovered and Punished a Price-Fixing Cartel under the Leniency Program

By Susan Ning and Ding Liang King & Wood Mallesons’ Antitrust Group

The Provisions of the Supreme People’s Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Dispute Cases Arising from Monopolistic Conduct (“Anti-Monopoly Judicial Interpretation”), as adopted at the 1539th Session of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) in January 2012, were issued on May 3, 2012 and came into force on June 1, 2012. The Anti-Monopoly Judicial Interpretationreflects important experience accumulated in the judicial practice of monopoly civil disputes and is expected to play an important role in monopoly civil dispute cases. This article will briefly discuss the key issues involved in the Anti-Monopoly Judicial Interpretation. 

I .The Drafting Background of the Anti-Monopoly Judicial Interpretation
Continue Reading Commentary on the Anti-Monopoly Judicial Interpretation

作者：宁宣凤 丁亮 金杜律师事务所反垄断组

《最高人民法院关于审理因垄断行为引发的民事纠纷案件应用法律若干问题的规定》（以下简称“反垄断司法解释”）已于2012年1月30日由最高人民法院审判委员会第1539次会议通过，于2012年5月3日公布，自2012年6月1日起施行。《反垄断司法解释》凝结了垄断民事纠纷案司法实践中积累的一些重要经验，将在未来垄断民事纠纷案中起到重要作用。本文将对《反垄断司法解释》所涉及的重要内容做简要的梳理和评述。

一、《反垄断司法解释》的起草背景

早在2008年8月1日《反垄断法》正式实施后，最高人民法院就已开始着手准备垄断民事纠纷案所能出现的各种问题。2008年10月24日，最高人民法院在天津召开研讨会，讨论人民法院在审理垄断民事纠纷案中急需解决的问题。
Continue Reading 反垄断司法解释评述

 By Susan Ning,Hazel YIN,and Han WU 

On 13 August 2012, the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) approved Wal-Mart Stores Inc(“Wal-Mart”)’s proposed acquisition of 33.6% share of Niu Hai Holdings (“Niu Hai”),which enables Wal-Mart to have a controllin stake in the online direct sales business of Yihaodian, the largest e-supermarket in China.1 The approval is not without conditions,though.It is the fifth conditional merger clearance decision (“Decision”)MOFCOM issued in 2012 and the first conditional clearance relating to the online retail sector.
 Review Process
 
 MOFCOM received notification of the transaction on 16 December 2011 and officially accepted it on 16 February 2012.
Continue Reading MOFCOM Approved Wal-Mart’s Acquisition of Controlling Stake in Yihaodian but Said NO to VIE Structure

By Susan Ning, Sun Yiming and Kate Peng

On the International Symposium on Controversial Issues regarding Chinese AML Enforcement held in Hangzhou on Monday this week, both the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (“SAIC”) announced that they will increase the transparency of their enforcement actions under the AML. 

NDRC and SAIC are the regulators for anti-monopoly conducts in China. The powers are divided between the two authorities in the way that NDRC is responsible for price-related monopoly conducts, and SAIC is responsible for non-price related monopoly conducts.Continue Reading Chinese Antitrust Regulators Vow to Increase Transparency

By Susan Ning and Hazel Yin

August 1, 2012 marks the fourth anniversary of China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”). 1 With only 57 articles, the AML introduces a series of new regimes governing not only transactions but also day-to-day operations of domestic and foreign companies.  This article presents an overview of how the AML has been implemented so far, with particular focus on the latest development, and where it may go in the near future.   

Merger Control

The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) is responsible for reviewing concentration of undertakings that trigger a certain turnover thresholds. 
Continue Reading China’s Anti-Monopoly Law: Retrospect and Prospect on the Fourth Anniversary

作者：宁宣凤   尹冉冉    金杜律师事务所反垄断组

至2012年8月1日，《中华人民共和国反垄断法》（以下简称《反垄断法》）实施已满四年。1虽然仅有57条，但《反垄断法》确立了一系列崭新的制度，其适用对象不仅包括国内公司，也包括境外企业，适用范围不仅涵盖公司的日常运营，也包括公司间的交易行为。本文简要回顾《反垄断法》四年的实施情况，并对其实施趋势予以展望。

一、合并控制

经营者集中在达到一定营业额标准后，需提交商务部进行经营者集中的反垄断审查。自2008年8月1 日以来，商务部累计审查逾450起交易，其中95%以上的交易获得无条件批准。截至2012年8月1日，商务部已附条件批准14起交易，禁止1起（可口可乐收购汇源）。Continue Reading 中国反垄断法实施四周年回顾与展望

作者:贺墨亭 黄紫玲 金杜律师事务所公司组

2012年6月22日，香港首部跨部门的实体竞争法在香港特别行政区政府宪报中公布，随之设立了新的监管机构，该机构的设立将会推动亚洲商业经营行为的变革，而该机构本身也拥有广泛的强制执行权力，其中包括有权在相关修订生效后开展黎明突袭，并对违反竞争行为处以严重处罚。

《竞争条例》将禁止卡特尔行为、滥用市场权势和其他形式的违反竞争行为，但一些豁免情况除外（包括考虑经济效率所规定的豁除、集体豁免和最低营业额）。合并审查将继续限制适用于电信部门。

香港竞争事务委员会（竞委会）将享有一系列的调查和强制执行权力，包括有权发出违章通知书、接受承诺、对举报人给予豁免、及启动诉讼处罚程序、和发出禁止担任高管职务的命令。

在本篇法律快讯中，我们将介绍《竞争条例》主要条款的潜在影响，提示企业应在该新法律规制下采取哪些准备措施，并简要列举新成立的竞委会将拥有哪些调查和强制执行权力。
Continue Reading 香港的新竞争法:反托拉斯革命的大幕即将拉开

By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Kate Peng

It is generally known that the antitrust enforcement powers are shared by three government authorities in China: the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”),  which is responsible for merger control,  the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”), which is responsible for price-related monopoly conducts, and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (“SAIC”), which is responsible for non-price related monopoly conducts.  Compared to the former two authorities, SAIC  keeps a relatively low profile on its antitrust enforcement actions. 

On July 11, Director General of the Anti-Monopoly and Anti-Unfair Competition Enforcement Bureau of SAIC (“AMAUCEB”), Ms. Ren Airong (任爱荣) made a speech at a conference and introduced the fruits of antitrust enforcement by SAIC since the Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”)  came into effect on August 1, 2008.  Continue Reading A General Picture of SAIC’s Antitrust Enforcement

作者：宁宣凤 彭荷月 金杜律师事务所反垄断组

自《中华人民共和国反垄断法》（“《反垄断法》”）实施以来，作为反垄断执法机构的国家工商行政管理总局（“国家工商总局”）和国家发展和改革委员会（“国家发改委”）已经分别在其职权范围内就一些经营者涉嫌垄断的行为进行了调查，并对部分行为实施了处罚。请参见”First Public Enforcement Decision by SAIC against concrete manufacturers（国家工商总局首个公开处罚决定针对混凝土生产企业）”、”Earlier Rumor Confirmed: China Telecom and China Unicom under Antitrust Investigation（早前传闻被确认——中国电信和中国联通接受反垄断调查）”、”NDRC Fined Two Pharmaceutical Companies for Abusive Conducts（国家发改委对两家制药公司垄断行为进行处罚）”以及”Price Related Breaches of the AML and the Price Law – How Many Public Cases Have There Been?（与价格有关的垄断行为以及价格法——目前有多少公开案例？）”等相关文章。

根据《反垄断法》第46条和第47条，如果经营者达成并实施垄断协议，或滥用市场支配地位，反垄断执法机构可以作出以下处罚决定：
 Continue Reading 反垄断处罚行政复议常见问题解答