Chinese Antitrust Guidelines on Leniency and Commitments Offer Companies a "Way Out"

In the summer of 2020, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published four antitrust guidelines signed-off by the Anti-monopoly Commission of the State Council. Two of these guidelines relate to how companies may avoid administrative penalty altogether or receive reduced fines in case of alleged antitrust infringements: (1) Guidelines on Application of the Leniency System in Horizontal Monopoly Agreement Cases (the Leniency Guidelines) (横向垄断协议案件宽大制度适用指南); and (2) Guidelines for Commitments Offered by Business Operators in Monopoly Cases (the Commitments Guidelines) (垄断案件经营者承诺指南).

the Leniency Guidelines and the Commitments Guidelines have codified some of the established practices from enforcement activities in previous years and additionally provide long-called-for guidance on certain important issues

Building on the analytical framework laid out by the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) (反垄断法) and the two implementing regulations that SAMR brought into effect in 2019, the Leniency Guidelines and the Commitments Guidelines have codified some of the established practices from enforcement activities in previous years and additionally provide long-called-for guidance on certain important issues. The guidelines are in line with the rules and practices in major antitrust jurisdictions such as the EU and the U.S. in key aspects, whilst reflecting specific Chinese enforcement characteristics.