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COVID-19: SAMR tackles AML enforcement to combat pandemic and restart economy
Practical Law UK Legal Update w-025-0556 (Approx. 3 pages)
COVID-19: SAMR tackles AML enforcement to combat pandemic and restart economy
| Published on 17 Apr 2020 • China |
The State Administration for Market Regulation has issued an announcement to facilitate efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and restart China's economy by enforcing the Anti-monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China 2007 (2007 AML).
On 5 April 2020, the SAMR issued the Announcement on Anti-monopoly Enforcement to Support Pandemic Prevention and Control and Resume Work and Production.
The announcement is aimed at facilitating efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and restart China's economy by enforcing the 2007 AML.
Specifically, the announcement:
- Extends the SAMR's online merger control filing procedures. The SAMR is not accepting onsite merger notification filings or responses to requests for supplemental information. It has made fast-track reviews available in relation to transactions essential to pandemic control and prevention, sectors severely impacted by the pandemic and transactions that facilitate re-opening the economy.
- Exempts certain co-operative agreements, where the agreement lawfully falls within an anti-monopoly exemption under 2007 AML, and addresses the fallout from the pandemic by improving technologies and technical standards, providing public welfare or disaster relief or increasing the operating efficiency or competitiveness of small and medium-sized businesses.
- Increases investigations of monopoly agreements and abuses of a dominant market position that potentially hinder pandemic prevention and control, impede efforts to re-start the economy or harm consumer interests in sensitive sectors, including the manufacture of personal protection equipment, drugs and medical devices, public utilities and other sectors closely related to the public interest.
The announcement also calls for increased guidance to assist companies in implementing and improving their internal antitrust compliance systems and facilitates the handling of antitrust enquiries and complaints from companies and consumers, as well as applications for antitrust exemptions, and requires the SAMR and its local offices to contact to these parties within two business days.
The SAMR circulated a draft amendment to the 2007 AML in January. The draft contained a fair competition review mechanism to scrutinize government policies that restrict competition through local protectionism, market entry barriers, forced technology transfers and so on. The announcement partially implements this review mechanism by streamlining fair competition reviews of policies that combat the pandemic and support efforts to re-start the economy. For information on the draft, see Legal update, SAMR circulates draft amendment of AML.