In June 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) released the Answers to Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Outbound Investment by Enterprises (“Answers to FAQs”) on its official website, providing clarification to 61 frequently asked questions regarding the application of the new Administrative Measures for Enterprise Outbound Investment (“Regulation No. 11”).
Continue Reading China’s NDRC Issued Answers to FAQs on Outbound Investment, Clarifying the Application Scope of Sensitive Projects
China’s NDRC Issued New Outbound Investment Rules
By Wang Kaiding, Huang Mengting and Tang Xinran King & Wood Mallesons’ Corporate & Securities group
On 26 December 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) issued the Administrative Measures for Enterprise Outbound Investment[1] (“Regulation No. 11”) which will come into force on 1 March 2018.
Regulation No. 11 contains six chapters and 66 articles. Compared to the 2014 Administrative Measures for the Verification and Record-filing on Outbound Investment Projects[2] (“Regulation No. 9”), there are several significant changes. The change of the regulation’s title indicates that monitoring of outbound investments will no longer be limited to pre-transaction “verification” and “record-filing”, but will also cover the periods during and after transactions.
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China issues guidelines on overseas investments
By Andrew Fei King & Wood Mallesons’ sydney office
On 18 August 2017, as part of the Chinese government’s ongoing efforts to regulate overseas investments by Chinese companies, China’s State Council published a set of investment guidelines (Guidelines) formulated by four key regulators – the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Commerce, People’s Bank of China and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (collectively, PRC Regulators).
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Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry — Overview and Frequently Asked Questions
By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Ruohan Zhang King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group
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arch 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.
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Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry– Clarifying the Enforcement on RPM
by Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Yun Bi King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group
In recent years, Chinese authorities have dealt with many antitrust cases for resale price maintenance (“RPM”), and such investigations have spread into various industries, e.g. milk powder, eye glasses, alcohol, automotive industry, etc. Especially in the automotive industry, since 2014, some well-known branded auto suppliers have been fined for restricting their distributors’ resale price. On March 23, 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) published the consultation draft of the Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry (“Consultation Draft”) to invite public comments. The Consultation Draft particularly provides detailed explanations on RPM and provides practical guidance for both companies and the Anti-Monopoly Enforcement Agencies (“AMEAs”).
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Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry– Vertical Non-price Restrictions Face Potential Challenges
By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Yumeng Li King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group
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ummary
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.
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Highlights on Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry — Antitrust Issues in Automotive Aftermarket
By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, Hazel Yin, Lingbo Wei, Shenglan Liu King & Wood Mallesons Commercial & Regulatory Group
On
March 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.
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NDRC Invites Comments on Draft Antitrust Guidelines for Automotive Industry
By Susan Ning, Cheng Liu, and Hazel Yin King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group
On March 23, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”) published the draft Antitrust Guidelines for the Auto Industry (“Draft Guidelines”), and invited public comments by April 12, 2016. NDRC is entrusted by the State Council Antimonopoly Commission to take the lead in drafting these Draft Guidelines. Before this draft on March 23, it had circulated several versions among a smaller group and received comments from major market players, industry associations, consumer associations, academic experts and legal practitioners.
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A Snapshot of Developments in NDRC’s Antitrust Enforcement and Legislation from 2011-2015
By Susan Ning, Hazel Yin, Yangdi Zhao King & Wood Mallesons’ Commercial & Regulatory Group
The 12th Five-Year-Plan period (2011-2015) has witnessed intense antitrust enforcement efforts by the Chinese antitrust regulators. Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission (“NDRC”), the price-related antitrust regulator in China released a summary report on its achievements during the past five years. In particular, a total of 97 price-related antitrust cases were concluded, and the fines imposed and illegal gains confiscated amount to approximately RMB 10.4 billion yuan. Among the 97 cases, 29 were handled by NDRC directly and 68 by its local counterparts. 76 cases related to monopoly agreements, 13 concern abuses of market dominance, and 8 involve administrative monopolies.
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NDRC strengthens drug price monitoring – Pharmaceutical companies are likely targets of future antitrust enforcement
By Susan Ning Hazel Yin and Ruohan Zhang King&Wood Mallesons’ Antitrust Group
On May 4, 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) published the Notice on Reinforcing Supervision over Drug Prices (“Notice”). The Notice includes a range of specific issues on the supervision over drug price, including immediately launching special inspections into illegal conducts