Clifford Chance

Antitrust in China and Across the Region

October 28, 2024

QUARTERLY UPDATE
July to September 2024

In China, the last quarter continued to witness significant developments in various areas. On the merger control front, the State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") released its updated notification form for simple cases and an updated announcement form, which took effect on 12 October 2024, marking its first major revision since the introduction of the simplified procedure in 2014. The updates aim to streamline the filing preparation process and increase the efficiency of the merger control process in China. In addition, SAMR launched a consultation on the draft rules concerning discretion benchmarks for imposing administrative penalties for merger-related violations of China's Anti-monopoly Law ("AML"). SAMR also published the second gun-jumping decision following the 2022 AML amendments. All these developments exhibit SAMR's unswerving efforts on the merger control front. With respect to enforcement in the area of conduct rules, the Shanghai Municipal Administration for Market Regulation fined Sumscope for monopolising financial data products, marking the first case of enforcement for abuse of market dominance in the data sector. In August, Alibaba completed its three-year compliance rectification programme under SAMR's supervision, which can be traced back to 2021 when SAMR imposed a record fine on Alibaba for its "choose one of two" anti-competitive conduct in the online retail market in China. In addition to such enforcements, SAMR also unveiled draft antitrust guidelines for the pharmaceutical sector and China's Supreme People's Court published four classic antitrust litigation cases.

Outside China, antitrust scrutiny across the digital sector remained rigorous across the Asia-Pacific region: Japan launched an online survey regarding the Smartphone Software Competition Promotion Act, and South Korea launched a survey of the AI market and announced plans to amend fair trade rules in the digital platform industry. India found Apple to have abused dominance in the Indian app store market, and its dismissal of imposing interim measures regarding Google's updated payments policy was challenged by broadcasters. Merger control-wise, a number of developments are worth staying tuned for: Australia published a draft Bill outlining the proposed merger notification thresholds underpinning the new mandatory and suspensory merger regime; the Philippines issued Guidelines for Merger Remedies; New Zealand issued a first-ever merger block based on buyer power concerns; Singapore conditionally approved Singapore Airlines and Garuda's proposed commercial co-operation; and India conditionally cleared the merger of domestic media assets of Reliance Industries and Walt Disney Company. Other notable developments include: Japan penalised Hakuhodo for bid rigging in relation to the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and conducted on-site investigations of several companies for alleged abuse of dominance; Australia released the Aviation White Paper with a focus on incremental reforms to address market concentration in the aviation sector; and Hong Kong witnessed judgment in the first cartel case relating to a government subsidy scheme and the first criminal case relating to non-compliance with investigation powers.

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