The China Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), which became effective August 1, 2008, is the first comprehensive competition law enacted by China. The AML prohibits a broad array of agreements between competitors and commercial counterparties, as well as competitive conduct by single firms that may harm the competitive process. In addition, it establishes a mandatory administrative review procedure for mergers and acquisitions between companies meeting certain sales thresholds, globally or in China. Beyond these fundamental provisions, the AML prohibits certain types of administrative abuses believed to be prevalent in China and establishes a complex set of administrative agencies with broad powers to enforce the law. Anti-Monopoly Law and Practice in China is the first comprehensive treatment of the AML and the practice of antitrust law under this new system. Each chapter on the substantive provisions of the law includes practical advice on approaches to meeting the challenge of complying with the law's requirements, including analysis of likely interpretations and applications of the AML based on precedents in related economic laws and actions by other administrative agencies. Where policy choices are uncertain, the text will explore probable developments in China based on comparable applications of competition laws in other jurisdictions.

It probably goes without saying that anti-monopoly law and practice are of very recent vintage in China. In August 2008, 118 years after the Sherman Act and 50 years after the Treaty of Rome, China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) came into effect. Since then the enforcement of the AML has seen significant progress as well as considerable challenges. This volume, comprised of 27 highly informative contributions by more than 40 government officials, academics, economists, in-house lawyers, and private practitioners, introduces novice practitioners to the complexities of antitrust law in China and provides new insight for those already working in the field. Generally following the structure of the text of the AML, topics and issues covered include the following: an overview of the first five years of AML implementation; the institutional framework for antitrust enforcement in China; monopoly agreements between market players; abuses of dominance committed by a single company; problems and potential solutions for information exchanges between competitors; the economics underlying retail price maintenance; refusals to deal; procedural and substantive practice of merger decisions; the application of merger control to joint ventures; ‘administrative monopolies’ and the tension between competition and industrial policies; ways to seek legal redress; litigation (both administrative and civil) and the role of the courts; international cooperation efforts made in relation to Chinese antitrust enforcers; the relationship between the AML and China’s anti-bribery rules; the treatment of vertical integration or cooperation; and how the AML rules apply to intellectual property rights. Throughout the book there are analyses of major judgments with key conclusions to be drawn from them, as well as comparisons with corresponding judgments in other jurisdictions. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of the AML, and as such will be of inestimable value to business persons and in-house counsel, as well as to academics in Chinese law and competition law from a global perspective.

This book focuses on experiences with the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) of 2007 in China. It uses carefully-chosen case studies to examine how the competition authorities in China discuss cases and how they use economic reasoning in their decision-making process. Bringing together comparative perspectives, the expert contributors discuss the practice of the Anti-Monopoly Law in China from the viewpoints of European and American competition policy. Several very current topics are given specific attention, including enforcement, the role of the state, how to define the relevant market and how to apply the AML to regulated industries. The book also indicates the scope for mutual learning on how to improve the AML. The Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law will appeal to competition lawyers, attorneys-at-law dealing with economic law generally, civil servants and policy makers, comparative lawyers and social scientists with an interest in developments in China.

This unique book considers competition policy and regulation in light of the recent introduction of the anti-monopoly law in China. It addresses the relevance of competition policy for China from a broad theoretical and practical perspective, bringing together lawyers and economists from China, Europe and the US to provide an integrated law and economics approach. Given that the development of the Chinese anti-monopoly law in China was heavily reliant on a comparative approach, the contributors analyse how its text and practice actually compare to European and US legislation. The first cases in which Chinese anti-monopoly law were applied are explored, and both competition law and competition policy are discussed in detail. Topics include: industrial and professional regulation and their relationship to competition law, merger control, substantive competition law issues, cartels, and abuse of dominance and predation. This unique book will prove a fascinating read for competition lawyers, economists with a special interest in regulation and competition, and for practitioners concerned with competition policy and regulation.

On 1 August 2008 the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law entered into force, introducing a comprehensive framework for competition law to the Chinese market. One set of the new rules pertains to merger control. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) was nominated as the authority responsible for enforcing merger control in China and has been actively doing so ever since. Recent years have established China as one of the most important merger filing jurisdictions for cross-border mergers alongside the EU and USA. This work evaluates the Chinese merger control law regime and MOFCOM’s decision-making practice after more than five years of application. In particular, it assesses which policy goals (competition policy goals or industrial policy considerations) prevail in the written law and its application and provides suggestions for a further improvement of the law – with the aim to develop a transparent merger control regime that promotes long-term economic growth in China.

A comprehensive guide to the competition regimes of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The book adopts an inter-disciplinary approach considering the political, economic and legal issues relevant to competition policy adoption.

The Political Economy of Competition Law in China provides a unique, multifaceted perspective of China's anti-monopoly law.

Anti-Monopoly Law and Practice in China is the first comprehensive treatment of the 2008 China Anti-Monopoly Law, and the practice of antitrust law under this new system.

The rapid evolution of China from an emerging to a mature intellectual property jurisdiction has far-reaching implications for the law, policy and practice of IP, and their links with competition and technology law. Produced in the year China rose to fourth rank globally as user of the international patent system, this volume is an invaluable guide for the policymaker, the analyst and the practitioner alike, setting a thorough exposition of the substantive law and its application within a broader policy context, and offering a comprehensive, timely overview of an IP system just at the time it begins to assume central significance on the world stage. Antony Taubman, Director, IP Division, WTO This edited volume offers an excellent comprehensive overview of China s intellectual property and technology laws. The eminent contributors to this volume have played important roles in shaping China s IP system and in tackling the many challenges confronting it. By making their views of the system readily accessible to an English audience, this volume will undoubtedly add to our understanding of the legal protections and challenges facing innovation industries in China. Mark Wu, Harvard Law School, US The pioneering studies in this book examine the fundamental role of intellectual property and technology laws as China is moving from made in China to created in China . This book also helps us to understand about the interplay between China s intellectual property protection system and the potential for transition of China s economy, and provides numerous means to deal with the legislative difficulties in China s innovation-oriented strategy. Wu Handong, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, China Written by some of China s leading academic experts and with a foreword by the former Chief Justice of the IP Tribunal of China s Supreme People s Court, this book combines for the very first time a review of both Chinese intellectual property and technology laws in a single volume in English. The book initially focuses on recent amendments to the laws of copyright, trademarks, patents, before moving on to discuss unfair competition and trade secrets, and the protection of intellectual property over electronic networks. Other chapters cover the regulation of digital networks and telecommunications; IT and E-commerce; the new antimonopoly law and competition; and China s position on the TRIPS agreement. Of special note is a chapter written by in-house Counsel and the Chairman of the Quality Brands Protection Committee (a coalition of well known multinational brands) reviewing both brand protection and practical enforcement of intellectual property in China. This book will appeal to scholars and postgraduate students in commercial law (especially in IP, trade, competition, and technology), Chinese studies and business, as well as regulators, international agencies and law firms. Management consultancy and accounting firms, banks and investment firms will also find this book invaluable.

Management and legal counsel of foreign companies operating in China as well as those outside China with Chinese business desperately need to keep up with the fast-paced antitrust developments in the most dynamic market in the world. The author of this book, Becky Koblitz, is a seasoned antitrust lawyer for a major U.S. law firm in Beijing. She has decades of legal experience as a prosecutor at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as in-house counsel for a German subsidiary of a major American real estate development company and as a lawyer at law firms globally. Her rich experience in the U.S., Europe and China, now often regarded as the three centers of global antitrust, makes her the perfect candidate to write a book on China's antitrust development. Her book is a quick read that tells what there is to know about China's antitrust enforcement and includes practical advice and examples for the various aspects of antitrust: dealing with competitors, dealing within the supply chain, mergers, etc. She writes in a straight-forward language such that non-antitrust lawyers can get beyond stock phrases like "illicit price coordination," "abuse of dominance," or "unilateral effect." Her book is a valuable and practical "cookbook" for antitrust compliance training and beyond. Another feature of the book is that it provides both legal and economic perspectives on antitrust analysis in China, which is important given that economic analysis is increasingly adopted by China's antitrust agencies and the Chinese courts. Thus understanding the logic and methodology behind economic analysis as applied to Chinese cases is key to conducting proper antitrust legal analysis that is tailored to the Chinese context. To write a book on the burgeoning antitrust enforcement and practice for the constantly evolving Chinese market is a real challenge. The trick, and it is not as easy as you would think, is to write simple declarative sentences, understandable to the antitrust layman, and at the same time not lose the rigor of antitrust analysis. I think this relatively short book is a remarkable achievement in meeting such a challenge, but I invite you to judge for yourself.