By Susan Ning of King & Wood
China's new Anti-monopoly law deals with the prohibition of monopoly agreements, abuse of market power, and merger control, with 8 chapters and 57 articles. It will come into effect on August 1 2008.
On one hand, the AML bears some unique Chinese characteristics. For instance, Article 4 of the AML provides that ¡°the State shall make and implement competition rules suitable for the socialist market economy, perfect the macro control, and improve a united, open, competitive and well-ordered market system.¡±
On the other hand, EC and U.S. law had a considerable influence on the formation of the AML. For instance, Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No 1/2003 provides for formal settlements of investigations by the EC into suspected infringements of Articles 81 or 82 of the EC Treaty. The AML adopts a similar investigation suspension rule in Article 45.
Since the AML itself leaves room for further interpretation, we will have to wait for more detailed guidelines and implementation provisions to clarify how the AML will be applied in practice.
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