Susan Ning and Ding Liang
On December 16, 2011, the Beijing Lawyers Association organized a seminar inviting Mr. Zhou Zhigao, an official from the Price Supervision, Inspection and Anti-monopoly Bureau (Price Supervision and Anti-monopoly Bureau) of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), to speak on anti-price monopoly legislation and enforcement.
Continue Reading NDRC Doubles Its Antitrust Enforcement Force
By Susan Ning and Ding Liang
On November 14, the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") announced its decision to fine two private pharmaceutical companies nearly RMB 7 million for violating the Anti-monopoly Law (AML) (please see our previous article entitled NDRC Fined Two Pharmaceutical Companies for Abusive Conducts). The NDRC’s news release did not clearly indicate which article(s) of the AML the two companies have violated and the method the NDRC adopted to calculate the fine.
On December 16, Mr. Zhou Zhigao, an official from the NDRC’s Price Supervision, Inspection and Anti-monopoly Bureau discussed the reasoning behind this case in a seminar. According to Mr. Zhou, the two pharmaceutical companies were fined under Article 17(3) of the AML because they abused their dominance by refusing to deal with reserpine manufacturers. He also discussed the method used in that case to calculate the fine.Continue Reading NDRC Official Speaks on the Pharmaceutical Case
By Susan Ning, Ding Liang, Liu Jia and Sun Yiming
On November 14, the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC") announced its decision to fine two private pharmaceutical companies nearly RMB 7 million for violating the Anti-monopoly Law ("AML")1. The penalty decision was released right after the NDRC publicly confirmed its investigation over China Telecom and China Union for alleged abuse of dominance in the broadband market. It seemed that the NDRC could not wait to show its determination to enforce the AML with another striking case.Continue Reading NDRC Fined Two Pharmaceutical Companies for Abusive Conducts
By Susan Ning, Sun Yiming and Liu Jia
On November 9, 2011, an earlier rumor indicating that China Telecom is under antitrust investigation for alleged abuse of dominance in the broadband market was confirmed by the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC"), the authority in charge of price-related breaches of the Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"). This is by far the first time for China’s antitrust enforcement authority to conduct an antitrust investigation on large state-owned companies. It is speculated that billions of antitrust fines could possibly be levied if the violation is established.
This article is a follow-up of our previous article entitled "Chinese Antitrust Enforcement Agencies Ready to Show Teeth to Large State-owned Enterprises? ", which includes a comprehensive analysis of the claimed violation.Continue Reading Earlier Rumor Confirmed: China Telecom and China Unicom under Antitrust Investigation