antitrust investigation

Subscribe to antitrust investigation via RSS

By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Ruohan Zhang King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group

untitledOnuntitled Muntitledarch 23rd, 2016, after several rounds of internal inquiries, Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry (Draft for Comments) (hereinafter the “Consultation Draft”), drafted by the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) together with relevant authorities under the authorization by the State Council Anti-Monopoly Commission, was open for public comments. As the first comprehensive industrial antitrust guideline in China, the publication of the Consultation Draft stands as a milestone.
Continue Reading Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry — Overview and Frequently Asked Questions

By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Yumeng Li King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group

untitledS001uuntitledmmary

Auto suppliers often impose non-price restrictions, such as territorial restrictions and customer restrictions, on their distributors. In previous penalty decisions of Anti-Monopoly Enforcement Authorities (“AMEAs”), non-price restrictions in association with resale price maintenance may be found violating Article 14(1) or (2) of the Anti-Monopoly Law (“AML”). However, AMEAs have yet punished any standalone non-price restriction under Article 14(3) of the AML.
Continue Reading Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry– Vertical Non-price Restrictions Face Potential Challenges

By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Lingbo Wei, Shenglan Liu King & Wood Mallesons Commercial & Regulatory Group

Ountitledn Muntitledarch 23, 2016, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) published the draft of the State Council Anti-Monopoly Commission’s Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry (the “Consultation Draft”) and invited comments from the public.

There have been quite a few antitrust investigations in China’s automotive industry in recent years. For the automotive aftermarket, auto suppliers in China have long been criticized for imposing restrictions on spare parts suppliers, distributors and repairers, which leads to the exclusive supply of original spare parts in the aftermarket as well as the foreclosure of repair technical information. Customers have been worried about the high parts-to-whole ratio and the unavailability to after-sale services.
Continue Reading Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry — Antitrust Issues in Automotive Aftermarket

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