Draft Rules' Impact on Data-Related Businesses

On Nov. 2 and 10, 2020 two draft rules were released to solicit public comments: (1) the Anti-Monopoly Guidelines for the Platform Economy Sector (Draft for Comments) (Draft Guidelines) (关于平台经济领域的反垄断指南 (征求意见稿)) by the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR); and (2) the Tentative Measures for the Administration of Online Petty Loan Business (Draft for Comments) (Draft Measures) (网络小额贷款业务管理暂行办法 (征求意见稿)) by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC). The Draft Guidelines aim to prevent monopolistic behavior and strengthen administrative supervision of the internet platform economy while the Draft Measures aim to standardize online petty loans to keep up with the fast growth of petty-loan companies in recent years. When compared with the draft Personal Information Protection Law (个人信息保护法) and the draft Data Security Law (数据安全法), these new draft rules do not directly regulate data-related businesses but they will have a profound impact on the operation of data-related businesses.

Due to the importance of the data to the business and operations of an internet platform, the control over data has becomes a key factor in determining the dominant market position and other issues when reviewing anti-trust cases

Impact of the Draft Guidelines