On May 16, 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the draft of the Provisions on Prohibiting the Acts of Eliminating or Restricting Competition by Abuse of Administrative Power (hereinafter referred to as “the Provisions”) to call for public comments before June 15.
The original purpose of formulating the Provisions is to prevent and stop the abuse of administrative power to exclude or restrict competition. The first edition of the national document on this specific purpose was the Procedure Provisions on Prohibiting the Acts of Eliminating or Restricting Competition by Abuse of Industry and Commerce Administrative Regulators issued by the former State Administration of Industry and Commerce in 2009. It was later revised in 2010 under the same name as the Provisions, and then the second and third revision successively in 2019 and 2023.
The currently effective version is the revised version issued in 2023, and it will be replaced once the draft is approved. The main objective for the revision is to further support the task in the annual government working report of China 2025 to “build a unified national grand market”. The main revision contents of this draft include:
- Supplements typical newly emerged illegal manifestations from current enforcement practice.
- Further expands reporting channels, facilitating relevant entities reporting situations to market regulatory authorities.
- Clarifies the criteria for filing cases regarding abuses of administrative power, and refines the circumstances for concluding investigations.
- Further clarifies that anti-monopoly enforcement agencies may, in accordance with the law, seek information from relevant entities and individuals, collect and obtain evidence, or require relevant entities and individuals to provide proof materials, explanatory statements, and other materials and information within a specified period.
- Lists six types of serious illegal circumstances, requiring enforcement agencies to propose disciplinary recommendations and have them copied to supervisory authorities.
- Positions interviews as an enforcement measure applicable throughout the entire enforcement process, explicitly stating that their implementation does not affect other enforcement procedures.
- Forms a cohesive linkage between the fair competition review system and enforcement against abuses of administrative power.
For foreign stakeholders, the revision of the Provisions are a supportive action for achieving the economic developing policies on the national level for China in 2025, and it is expected to further streamline and clarify the present market supervision governance, and potentially create a more market-driven environment for MNCs and foreign investments. However, some of the modifications and revised measures in the draft also indicates stricter management in terms of related investigations and enforcement, which may require further review of compliance team to analyze the potential impacts and opportunities.
Another point that first foreign stakeholders are advised to notice that, for the Provisions, relevant enforcement and the management is under the jurisdiction of SAMR.
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