China Adopts New Competition Law
As the Global Competition Review ($) reports, China has adopted a new competition law. The law will be effective in a year (August 1, 2008).
“It definitely has a full complement of antitrust bells and whistles,” says Abbott B “Tad” Lipsky of Latham & Watkins LLP. “As far as its substantive standards are concerned, it’s well within hailing distance of international standards and, beside a couple of wrinkles, would be more or less recognisable to a US or EU competition lawyer.”
The WSJ has background, and raises some questions about the new law:
Some see it as a tool that can aid domestic and government-owned companies and protect them from inroads by foreign multinationals. Accelerating inflation this year has also led to renewed official interest in controlling price increases by manufacturers.
Yet other local proponents see the antitrust code as a way to bring more competition and openness to the Chinese economy, many parts of which are still dominated by the state. . . .
Whether the law lives up to that promise depends less on the language that is finally approved by legislators and more on the priorities of future Chinese administrations. And in the last couple years, foreign investment in China has come under increasing political scrutiny, as leaders worry less about attracting money from abroad and more about supporting emerging local companies.
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