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By Zhang Ruji, Zhang Yu and Lan Bing of King & Wood’s Corporate Group

1.Background of the "The Provisions on Selling Real Estate at Expressly Marked Prices";

Starting in April 2010, China’s central and local governments issued a series of policies to regulate and control the soaring prices of real estate and the overheated real estate market in China. Based on these policies, on March 16, 2011, the National Development and Reform Committee (“NDRC”) issued The Provisions on Selling Real Estate at Expressly Marked Prices (“Provision No.548”), which was implemented on May 1, 2011.Continue Reading Issues Relating to “The Provisions on Selling Real Estate at Expressly Marked Prices” With Consideration of Chengdu’s Local Situation

…but level of enforcement is still considered inadequate by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International

By Ariel Ye and James Rowland of King & Wood’s Dispute Resolution Group

A month after Transparency International (“TI”) published its 2010 annual progress report on enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, the Australian Federal Police have charged two Reserve Bank of Australia subsidiaries, Securency and Note Printing Australia, with offences under the Criminal Code Amendment Act: Bribery of Foreign Public Officials.Continue Reading Australian Authorities Prosecute Major Asian Bribery Case…

By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Yin Ranran
The QQ / 360 battle broken out towards the end of 2010 (see our article entitled "The QQ / 360 Disputes – Who, What, Where, When and Preliminary Antitrust Analysis") has stirred lasting and heated discussions about anti-monopoly issues in the emerging Internet industry in China. 
 

About one month ago, Renmin University of China organized the thirteenth Anti-Monopoly Law Summit Forum, which was focused on discussion of fair competition in the Internet industry of China and protection of netizens’ interests.  Officials from various government agencies, such as the Law Committee of the National People’s Congress, Legislative Affairs of the State Council, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ("MIIT"), the State of Administration for Industry and Commerce ("SAIC’), the Ministry of Commerce, and the National Development and Reform Commission, as well as judges from the Supreme People’s Court participated in the forum..Continue Reading Potential Monopoly In China’s Internet Industry Caught Attention of Chinese Competition Authorities

Susan Ning and Yin Ranran

Recently, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced that its Anti-monopoly Bureau is to put up a signboard for the "Office of State Council’s Anti-Monopoly Commission (AMC)".  According to Mr. Yao Jian, a spokesman for MOFCOM, the State Council has approved the formal establishment of the AMC Office (even though the AMC Office has been operational within MOFCOM since the enactment of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) in 2008).  

As the third anniversary of the AML draws near, Mr. Yao expects that this move will further enhance effective enforcement of the AML and the coordination among the various ministries under the AMC.Continue Reading Formal Establishment of Anti-Monopoly Commission Office within MOFCOM Approved

By Susan Ning, Shan Lining and Angie Ng


Pursuant to the Anti-Monopoly Law, transactions which are construed as "concentrations" (i.e. mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures) and which meet with specified turnover thresholds 1; must be notified to, and cleared (from an antitrust law perspective) by MOFCOM, before business operators can go ahead with these transactions (notifiable concentrations). Continue Reading MOFCOM publishes draft rules on investigation procedures re failure to notify on concentrations

By Susan Ning, Zheng Ziqing and Angie Ng

On 3 June 2011, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) published, for public comments, draft rules which explain how MOFCOM will evaluate concentrations pursuant to the merger control regime.  These rules are entitled "Provisional Rules on the Assessment of the Effects of Concentrations on Competition" (Draft Rules).  The public has been invited to submit comments on these Draft Rules by 13 June 2011.

In fact, Article 27 of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) outlines a list of factors that MOFCOM would take into account, when assessing concentrations.  These are: (a) the market shares of the business operators involved in the concentration and their control over the market; (b) the degree of market concentration; (c) the impact of the concentration of business operators on market entry and technological advancement; (d) the impact of the concentration on consumers and other relevant business operators; (e) the impact of the concentration of business operators on the development of the national economy; and (f) any other factors deemed by MOFCOM to be relevant for consideration.  The Draft Rules expand on these factors.  There are altogether 14 provisions in the Draft Rules.  The following table provides an illustration of how the Draft Rules "expand" on the factors set out in Article 27 of the AML.
 Continue Reading Draft Merger Control Rules Published For Comments

By Susan Ning, Liu Jia and Angie Ng

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has co-organised a conference focusing on price related monopoly agreements with the European Commission Directorate-General for Competition (DG Competition).  The conference took place from 1 to 2 June 2011.

Antitrust authorities from the following jurisdictions attended this conference: the European Union, the United States of America, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Australia, Greece.  From China, officials from several government agencies attended the conference, including officials from: the Law Committee of the National People’s Congress, the Supreme People’s Court, Legislative Affairs of the State Council, the NDRC, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Commerce, the State of Administration of Industry and Commerce, and pricing authorities based in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.  Other attendees include representatives from China Consumers’ Association, China Cleaning Industry Association and academics.Continue Reading NDRC and EU’s DG Competition organize conference on price-related monopoly agreements

By Susan Ning, Chai Zhifeng and Angie Ng

On June 2, 2011, Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) publicly announced the first conditional merger clearance in 2011. At its [2011] No. 33 Announcement, MOFCOM cleared Uralkali’s proposed acquisition of Silvinit (the Parties) (both potash producers based in Russia) with conditions.  This is the 7th conditional merger clearance since the enactment of the Anti-monopoly Law (AML) in 2008.   MOFCOM is obliged by statute to publish conditional clearances. 

The following are the salient points to note vis-à-vis this conditional clearance:Continue Reading The Russian Potash Deal – first conditional clearance of 2011

By Zhang Baosheng, a partner of King & Wood’s Dispute Resolution Group

In 2005, China amended its Company Law(1)and made substantial adjustments to the State’s company law system and strengthened the justiciability of company related disputes. However, some provisions of the amended Company Law are overly general, conceptual and declaratory, and as a result it is not uncommon to find disparate outcomes in similarly situated cases. In order to ensure uniform understanding and application of the Company Law and provide guidance for judicial practice and commercial activities, the Supreme People’s Court (the "Supreme Court") issued two judicial interpretations of the Company Law(2), mainly clarifying certain fundamental principles of applying the Company Law and specific matters like dissolution and liquidation of companies.Continue Reading The Supreme People’s Court and the Company Law: Presumptions and Gap-filling Round Three