By Susan Ning, Kate Peng and Gong Ting King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group

Ountitlednpeng_kate 14 June 2016, China’s State Council published on its website the Opinions on Establishment of the Fair Competition Review Mechanism in the Development of Market System (“Opinions”).[1]The introduction of the fair-competition review mechanism represents a landmark progress in developing market economy in China.[2]According to the Opinions, Chinese government departments at different levels shall conduct a fair-competition review during the formulation of policies and regulations starting from July 2016.

1. Background

Over the past decades, China has made extraordinary economic progress in a relatively short period of time. Notwithstanding this development, China’s transition to a modern market system is still on-going and the legacy of a centrally planned and highly administered and regulated system still remains in some areas of the economy. Such as certain current administrative and economic management system gives central and local government bodies extensive powers to intervene and participate in markets relevant to the industries and geographical areas in their jurisdictions.
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