Ministry publishes Anti-monopoly Law guidelines

Several draft documents supporting the Anti-monopoly Law (AML) have been published.

The Tentative Measures for the Investigation and Handling of Concentrations of Business Operators that have not been Reported in accordance with the Law (Draft), Tentative Measures for the Collection of Evidence for Suspected Monopolies of Concentrations of Business Operators that have not reached the Reporting Threshold (Draft), Tentative Measures for the Reporting of Concentrations of Business Operators (Draft for Comments) and Tentative Measures on Reviews for Concentrations of Business Operators (Draft for Comments) appeared on the website of the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) on January 19 and 20.

Specialists reviewing the drafts say they should help settle various contentious issues including the factors taken into account when deciding whether one business has acquired control over another. For the first time, an exact share ratio has been specified which, if exceeded, means control has been acquired. The new documents also explain how to calculate business turnover, helping companies to apply the long-debated threshold tests contained in the AML.