China Monthly Antitrust Update: September 2023

Legislation

Hainan AMR Issues Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Public Utilities in Hainan Province

On August 24, 2023, in order to guide public utility enterprises in Hainan Province to strengthen their antitrust compliance management, protect the rights and interests of consumers and the public interest of society, and continue to optimise a fair, uniform and efficient market environment, the Hainan Administration for Market Regulation (“AMR”) formulated the Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Public Utilities in Hainan Province with relevant typical cases for public utility enterprises and other types of enterprises to refer to when conducting their antitrust compliance management. [1]

National People’s Congress: Suggestions to Improve Conflict Resolution Mechanism of Standard Essential Patents in Automobile Industry

On August 21, the Chongqing Intellectual Property Office Bureau publicised the reply letter of the first session of the Sixth National People’s Congress, No. 0217, on the suggestions to improve the dispute resolution mechanisms for standard essential patents in the automobile industry. [2]

Hunan AMR Issues Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Concentration of Undertakings in Hunan Province

On August 2, in order to further promote the implementation of the fair competition policy, guide operators to implement the anti-monopoly compliance for concentration of undertakings, and improve the awareness and management level of anti-monopoly compliance for concentration of undertakings, the Hunan AMR issued the Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Concentration of Undertakings in Hunan Province. [3]

Authorities

AMRs in Beijing, Shanghai, Heilongjiang and Other Five Provinces Announce Results of 15 Years of Anti-Monopoly Law Implementation

On August 30, 2023, the official website of Antimonopoly Law Enforcement Division I of the State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”) showed in the column of “Local Dynamics” that eight AMRs, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Heilongjiang, announced the results of the work done in the past 15 years of the Anti-monopoly Law implementation.[4] 

Guangdong Department of Housing and Construction and Guangdong AMR Issue Document: Real Estate Agencies Shall Not Abuse Dominant Market Position to Charge Unfairly High Prices for Brokerage Services

On August 24, in order to further regulate real estate brokerage services, strengthen the management of the real estate brokerage industry and promote the healthy development of the real estate market, the Guangdong Department of Housing and Construction and the Guangdong AMR issued the Implementing Opinions on the Regulation of Real Estate Brokerage Services, which emphasizes that real estate brokers shall not abuse their dominant market position to charge brokerage service fees at unfairly high prices. [5]

Beijing AMR and Other Departments Conduct Citywide Clean-up of Policy Measures Impeding Unified Markets and Fair CompetitionOn August 20, in order to implement the requirements of the Notice of the SAMR and Other Departments on Carrying out the Work of Cleaning Up Policies and Measures that Hinder a Unified Market and Fair Competition, and to ensure that the review and clean-up of fair competition in Beijing is carried out in a solid and orderly manner, with the approval of the municipal government, the Beijing AMR and other departments jointly issued a work plan to organize a comprehensive clean-up of Beijing’s policies and measures that hinder the unified market and fair competition. [6]

State Council Holds Briefing on Policies to Optimize Environment for Foreign Investment: Improve Merger Review Efficiency and Ensure Equal Participation of Domestic and Foreign Enterprises in Government Procurement Activities

On August 14, the Information Office of the State Council held a regular briefing on the policies of the State Council, at which the relevant responsible person of the SAMR introduced the situation of continuing to deepen reform and opening up and effectively optimize the business environment, and answered reporters’ questions.[7]

Beijing AMR Issues Annual Report on Anti-Monopoly Review of Concentration of Undertakings

On August 12, the Beijing AMR released an annual report on the anti-monopoly review of concentration of undertakings. From August 1, 2022 to August 1, 2023, the Beijing AMR received a total of 65 cases entrusted for review.[8]

Fourth Branch of Beijing Municipal Procuratorate Reaches Preliminary Agreement with Beijing AMR on Anti-monopoly Work, and Attends Training in Law Enforcement Business

On August 10, the fourth branch of the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate announced that recently it reached a preliminary agreement with the Beijing AMR on the establishment of institutional mechanisms such as coordination and linkage, special personnel contact, lead transfer, case-handling cooperation, and joint training of talents. The Fourth Branch of the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate has started the construction of a professional team for public interest litigation prosecution in the field of anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition, and recently sent personnel to participate in the 2023 Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei-Liaoning Anti-monopoly Law Enforcement Training held by the Beijing AMR.[9]

Four Departments of Zhejiang Initiate Measures to Clean up Policies that Hinder Unified Market and Fair Competition

On August 10, in order to thoroughly implement the major decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on building a unified national market, improving the basic system of fair competition market economy, and breaking down local protection and administrative monopolies, in accordance with the requirements of the Notice of the SAMR and Other Departments on Carrying out the Work of Cleaning Up Policies and Measures that Hinder a Unified Market and Fair Competition, the Zhejiang AMR and other three departments formulated the Work Plan for Cleaning up Policies and Measures that Hinder a Unified Market and Fair Competition in Zhejiang Province.[10]

Anhui Concentrates on Cleaning up Policy Measures that Hinder Unified Market and Fair Competition

Recently, in order to maintain the market order of fair competition and help build a unified national market, the Anhui AMR and other three departments jointly issued a notice to deploy the clean-up of various regulations and practices that hinder the unified market and fair competition.[11]

Chongqing AMR Is Entrusted to Review 65 Cases of Concentration of Undertakings in First Year

On August 7, the Chongqing AMR issued an announcement stating that it was entrusted to review 65 cases of concentration of undertakings in the first year, and the quality and efficiency of the pilot anti-monopoly review of concentration of undertakings were obvious.[12]

Supreme People’s Procuratorate to Establish Regular Coordination Mechanism with Antitrust Enforcement Agencies and Strengthen Public Interest Litigation in Anti-Monopoly Field

On August 7, the Online Press Office of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate released the 2023-2027 Procuratorial Reform Work Plan, stating that it will establish a regular coordination mechanism with antitrust enforcement agencies and strengthen public interest litigation in the anti-monopoly field.[13]

Shanghai AMR Releases Annual Report on Merger Review

On August 3, the Shanghai AMR released its annual report on merger review. From August 1, 2022 to August 1, 2023, the Shanghai AMR received a total of 137 entrusted review cases, involving a total transaction amount of nearly 200 billion RMB.[14]

Shandong AMR Holds Province-wide Special Training on Anti-monopoly Work in Weihai

From August 2 to 4, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the implementation of the Anti-Monopoly Law and the first anniversary of its amendment, in order to further promote the implementation of fair competition policies and strengthen the publicity of the Anti-Monopoly Law, the Shandong AMR held a special training class on anti-monopoly work across the province at Shandong Pharmaceutical and Food Vocational College (Weihai Campus). More than 120 people, including officials in charge of market regulation bureaus and business departments in each city, as well as members of the anti-monopoly law enforcement talent pool, participated in the training.[15]

Guangxi AMR Corrects Administrative Monopoly Behavior of a City Management Supervision Bureau

On August 22, 2023, the Guangxi AMR issued an announcement stating that it corrected the behavior of a City Management Supervision Bureau that restricted the free access of Internet rental moped operators to the market. According to the announcement, the Guangxi AMR filed the case and investigated the City Management Supervision Bureau for suspected abuse of administrative power to exclude and restrict competition on April 3, 2022.[16]

SAMR Interviews Four Pig Breeding Enterprises on No-Poaching Agreement

On July 31, the SAMR interviewed four pig breeding enterprises. As the initiators, four pig breeding enterprises signed the Convention of No Poaching, which violates the spirit of the Anti-Monopoly Law and is not conducive to building a unified national market.[17]

Notification of Undertakings

Intel Has to Abandon $5.4 Billion Semiconductor Acquisition Due to the Failure to Secure China’s Antitrust Approval

On August 17, 2023, Intel announced the termination of the acquisition of Israeli semiconductor foundry Tower Semiconductor due to its inability to obtain the regulatory approvals required by the merger agreement in a timely manner.[18]

Second Instance of Anti-Monopoly Litigation Involving Hundreds of Million Bidding Project Heard in Shenzhen Intermediate Court

On August 25, 2023, the monopoly case of Shenzhen Jianxin Cloud Technology Co., Ltd. v. Guanglianda Technology Co., Ltd. and related units opened its court session for second instance in Shenzhen Intermediate Court, and the plaintiff requested an order that the winning bid result in the case was invalid due to monopolistic behavior.[19]

Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court Accepts First Case of Cross-Border E-Commerce Enterprise Suing Overseas E-Commerce Platform for Abuse of Market Dominance

Recently, the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court accepted the case of Guangzhou Mengbian Information Technology Co., Ltd. v. Amazon European Services Company for abuse of market dominance. This case is the first case accepted by the Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court in which a cross-border e-commerce enterprise sued an overseas e-commerce platform for abuse of market dominance.[20]

Academia

Professor Yu Ling’s New Work: Research on Anti-monopoly Regulation of Personalized News Recommendation

Research on Anti-monopoly Regulation of Personalized News Recommendation, authored by Yu Ling, professor and doctoral supervisor of Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics Law School, and Lan Jianghua, doctoral student of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Law School, focus on the specific scenario of personalized news recommendation, respond to the regulatory concerns caused by algorithm recommendation, and is the first monograph to carry out such research on anti-monopoly regulation in China.[21]

[1] https://amr.hainan.gov.cn/zw/zcwj/bmwj/202308/t20230824_3480746.html

[2] https://zscqj.cq.gov.cn/zwgk_232/jytabl/202308/t20230821_12258975.html

[3] http://amr.hunan.gov.cn/amr/zwx/xxgkmlx/ywx/fldx/202308/t20230802_29452073.html

[4]https://www.samr.gov.cn/fldys/sjdt/dfdt/index.html

[5]http://zfcxjst.gd.gov.cn/xxgk/wjtz/content/post_4244698.html

[6]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8Jtf4P4rydujGZMS6ib-_A?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[7]http://www.china.com.cn/app/template/amucsite/web/webLive.html#3143

[8]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/sTrzWLlc4-XcumCQBX3L4w?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[9]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dKkPqNzFLDRaylGHNURrTA?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[10]http://zjamr.zj.gov.cn/art/2023/8/10/art_1229693039_2485943.html

[11]http://www.ahnews.com.cn/yaowen1/pc/con/2023-08/08/496_915377.html

[12]http://scjgj.cq.gov.cn/zwxx_225/bmdt/sj/202308/t20230807_12220238_wap.html

[13]https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbt/202308/t20230807_624017.shtml#2

[14]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/g70rC-csjqcN63AfCWyZEQ

[15]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OgSBVUToXyKNPL96GS5-Yg?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[16]http://scjdglj.gxzf.gov.cn/xwdt/qjdt/t17009176.shtml

[17]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/v0VPVHGipAxw-jBeLyhyqA?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[18]https://www.ithome.com/0/712/961.html

[19]  https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/MGJ6JSOJIwl62WxC_hNc3Q?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[20]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Zd214KifNNs5oHeWCCvLNA?scene=25#wechat_redirect

[21]https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/jPBB6szXuf77Aj7QZV6dUw

Source: Beijing Dacheng Law Offices LLP - Jet Deng and Ken Dai

Editor: IPR Daily-Horace