BEIJING Reuters - China's market regulator published draft rules and provisions on Monday that will improve its ability to govern antitrust behaviour, as the country prepares to implement a revised anti-monopoly law in August.
The State Administration for Market Regulation SAMR wants to hear from the public about its proposals, which range from descriptions on what deals could be perceived as monopolistic to regulations governing how local authorities with the power to restrict competition should behave.
The companies will need an antitrust review about their planned mergers or acquisitions if one of the parties' annual revenue hit over 12 billion yuan $1.79 billion and at least two parties' domestic annual sales reach 800 million yuan, according to the SAMR.
In late 2020, Chinese regulators began cracking down on multiple industries and targeted its platform economy companies over behaviours they considered monopolistic, fining the likes of Alibaba Group and Meituan billions of dollars.
The country's anti-monopoly law was amended last year, adding fresh emphasis on the digital economy and increasing penalties for instance. The revisions will take effect on Aug. 1, according to Xinhua last week.