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Foreign companies are not antitrust targets

An official from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has said that antitrust investigations this year are not specifically targeting foreign companies, but are instead part of an overall effort at tougher enforcement of the PRC Anti-monopoly Law (中华人民共和国反垄断法), according to China Daily. The official, Xu Kunlin, added that most investigations result from tip-offs from the general public and that foreign and domestic companies are treated equally. Xu, director-general of the Department of Price Supervision, made the comments during an interview on China Central Television.

Source: China Daily

This is interesting rhetoric from a senior official, but that leads to questions as to why he has spoken out. Looking at his interview, it appears his message is clear that domestic companies are not immune. Perhaps this is a scare tactic from the NDRC to get domestic companies to come forward with any irregularities or illegal conduct. Even though Xu reiterated that there is no special targeting of foreign companies, the amount of press generated is a good wake-up call for their domestic counterparts and they will definitely have taken notice.

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