Top market regulator releases antimonopoly guideline

The State Administration for Market Regulation, the country's top market regulator, released a guideline on antimonopoly compliance for the concentration of business operators on Monday, as the country strives to offer an accurate and transparent supervision environment for companies.

It marked the first compliance guidance released by antimonopoly law enforcement authorities of the State Council, China's Cabinet, in the field of concentration of business operators since the implementation of the Antimonopoly Law in 2008.

The concentration of operators is a practice where one business operator obtains control over another, which may lead to a monopolistic or quasi-monopolistic situation. Antitrust authorities in many countries require operators to declare mergers and acquisitions in advance to prevent potential monopolies.

The new guideline fully considers differences of management models for different types of enterprises and their frequency of investments and mergers and acquisitions, and aims to offer flexibility for companies in terms of compliance, the SAMR said.

For instance, companies aren't required to establish separate compliance systems for the concentration of business operators, so as to relieve their burden from additional compliance costs, the market regulator added.