China adopts Anti-Monopoly Law

October 11, 2007

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has passed the Anti-Monopoly Law of the Peoples Republic of China, which shall be effective from August 1, 2008. Its promulgation plays a significant role in the establishment and improvement of the Chinese socialist market law system and is considered to be a landmark of Chinese economy revolution.
The law, crowned as China’s “economic constitution”, is constituted with 8 chapters and 57 articles, including general provisions, monopoly agreements, abuse of dominant position in the market, centralization of proprietor, exclusion of abuse of administrative power, restriction on competition, investigation on monopoly action, legal responsibility and supplementary provisions and etc. It mainly prohibits the following three kinds of monopoly actions: (1) monopoly agreement ;(2) abuse of dominant position in the market and (3) control of centralization of proprietor.

The promulgation of the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law basically defines three specific parts of monopoly actions, establishes law-enforcement systems and relief methods of anti-monopoly, and provides legal protection for the revolution of monopoly industry. It would benefit the establishment of a fair competition environment, popularization of the competition conception and culture and balance and coordination of the relationships of various interests.