Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, commented on the Chinese approach to antitrust regulation of digital platforms in an interview with Xinhua. "The approach that the Chinese regulator is now beginning to demonstrate is the transition to a more comprehensive model of antitrust regulation of digital ecosystems, taking into account their complexity, many internal connections and the dynamic nature of their existence," he said.
Alexey noted that the recent antitrust investigation of the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) of China against the Alibaba Group Corporation and the publication of the manual on the protection of labor and social rights of employees of digital platforms are an example of a comprehensive approach of the Chinese authorities. "We see an attempt to balance the work of digital ecosystems from different sides. Moreover, the Chinese antimonopoly authority often gives Internet platforms the opportunity to independently correct the situation as they see fit, only pointing out the growing imbalance in certain issues and leaving companies a serious space for independent balancing of the ecosystems they control," Alexey commented.
With the growth of digitalization processes, new risks arise for social and economic development. At the moment, antimonopoly authorities in different countries are trying to regulate the activities of digital companies and are trying to limit the exploitation of the labor of employees of digital platforms, manipulation of consumer attention, exploitation of small companies and price cutting.
Alexey believes that the experience of China is important for the formation of a new approach to the regulation of digital ecosystems. "The model of antimonopoly regulation, built on the principles of organization and management of wildlife, taking into account the logic of complex systems, represents the future of antimonopoly regulation. Moreover, this future may come just from the East, whose tradition of an integrated approach to the regulation of complex interconnected systems may be more than appropriate for this new trend," Alexey noted.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
