China's Market Regulator: Fair Competition Review System Established, Antitrust Enforcement to Focus on APIs, Platform Economy

Beijing, September 20 — At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office, Shu Wei, spokesperson and deputy director of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), announced that the administration is comprehensively employing tools such as price enforcement, quality supervision, and standard-setting to effectively combat malicious low pricing and disorderly competition.

Fair Competition Review System Established

Wang Guowei, director of the Planning and Finance Department of SAMR, stated that the administration has established a fair competition review system. He emphasized that antitrust enforcement should be more focused on areas such as active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), and that investment and merger activities should be promoted in a lawful and orderly manner.

Wang noted that, from the perspective of the market supervision department's functions, efforts must be made to strengthen fair competition reviews and uphold the fundamental role of competition policy. SAMR stresses that competition policy should serve as the underlying, basic rule within all economic policy systems. Various industrial, investment, and fiscal policies must be premised on maintaining fair competition. Any policy measures involving the economic activities of business operators must be assessed for their impact on fair competition, in order to prevent the artificial creation of market barriers.

Enhancing Antitrust Enforcement and Curbing Local Protectionism

At the same time, SAMR will continuously improve the quality and efficiency of antitrust enforcement, resolutely eliminating local protectionism and market fragmentation. The administration will regularly issue risk alerts regarding improper interventions in market competition and intensify enforcement against acts that abuse administrative power to exclude or restrict competition. It will also enhance the capacity and efficiency of reviewing business concentrations, promoting lawful and orderly investment and merger activities. With antitrust enforcement already robust and intensive, SAMR will place greater emphasis on monitoring and early warning of monopoly risks, employing measures such as compliance guidance, administrative guidance, and warning interviews to effectively prevent monopolistic behavior before it occurs.

Unifying Market Rules to Ensure Smooth Flow of Resources

Wang Guowei stated that unified market rules and regulations are necessary to ensure the smooth flow of resources and production factors. SAMR will accelerate the establishment of unified rules for enterprise registration, relocation, and deregistration at the market access stage, safeguarding the operational autonomy of businesses. In the production and operation stage, it will expedite the improvement of the national standards system to ensure better coordination and alignment of various standards. In the circulation and consumption stage, SAMR will focus on improving regulatory rules for online trading markets, achieving integrated online and offline oversight.

Comprehensive Crackdown on "Involution-Style" Competition

Shu Wei stated that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period (2026–2030), SAMR will focus on the following three areas to accelerate the shift of market competition from "competing on price" to "competing on quality":

Strengthening Price Enforcement

• SAMR will accelerate the revision of the Price Law and study amendments to the Provisions on Curbing Dumping Behavior.
• Enterprises that initiate malicious low-price competition and disrupt production and operational order will be subject to cost investigations and price inspections, with strict penalties imposed according to law.
• The Rules on Price Behavior for Internet Platforms will be implemented to continuously regulate price competition in the platform economy.
• The Interim Provisions on the Implementation of the Price Supervisor System will be formulated to reinforce enterprises' primary responsibility for price compliance.

Strengthening Quality Supervision

• SAMR will further enhance source control by optimizing the management of industrial product production licenses and dynamically adjusting the compulsory product certification catalog to ensure quality market access.
• Quality risk monitoring and random inspections will be intensified, with increased scrutiny on products that are priced abnormally low, pose high safety risks, or have historically low pass rates. The proportion of inspections in key areas such as e-commerce platforms and wholesale markets will be raised.
• SAMR will improve the consistency of online and offline supervision and accelerate the establishment of a unified national product quality and safety traceability system. It will also reinforce the primary responsibilities of platform enterprises in verifying product information and cooperating with product recalls.
• Special campaigns will be launched to address quality and safety issues in industrial products sold online, with strict crackdowns on illegal and non-compliant online product sales.

Strengthening Anti-Unfair Competition Enforcement

• SAMR will thoroughly implement the newly revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law and continuously improve supporting regulatory rules.
• Special law enforcement actions against unfair competition will be deployed on a regular basis, focusing on key issues such as false advertising, mutual defamation, commercial slander, and commercial bribery. A number of typical cases will be investigated and penalized according to law.
• Protection of trade secrets will be strengthened, with local regulations and management norms explored and introduced based on regional conditions. The administration will actively promote pilot projects for trade secret protection and the establishment of service stations.

(Source: China Securities Journal)