The rules involve reviewing existing and proposed laws, regulations, administrative decisions, and other legal instruments to ensure they do not contain provisions that impede the development of competition.
China’s market regulators handled more than 600 complaints related to violations of fair competition review obligations in the first year since the country’s dedicated administrative regulation took effect, according to an official one-year implementation report.
The Regulations on Fair Competition Reviews, approved by the State Council in May 2024, requires that all new administrative policies — such as subsidies, market entry rules or procurement measures — be vetted for compliance with fair competition principles. It aims to prevent local protectionism and remove policy barriers that fragment the national market.
The State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR, recently said on its official social media account that it has strengthened enforcement by formalizing the complaint-handling process, responding more directly to business concerns, and encouraging external oversight.
To support implementation, 31 provincial-level market regulators have disclosed designated channels for receiving complaints.
The regulation’s rollout, followed two months later by new complaint-handling rules, helped establish clearer and more accessible reporting mechanisms nationwide.
It also resulted in an increase of random inspections to improve review quality, with the share of problematic policies dropping by 2.66 percentage points from previous years.
In its first year, market regulators reviewed more than 42,000 policy documents and amended 12,000 policy measures overall, according to SAMR.
The agency is also exploring the use of technology to enhance review capacity, including developing smart tools to assist with fair competition assessments.
Source: MLex
