China’s antitrust regulator has urged internet platforms to abandon a ‘land-grabbing’ approach to competition in favor of a more open and collaborative model of development.
China’s market regulator has urged internet platforms to move beyond a “land-grabbing” approach to competition and abandon the belief that excluding or restricting competition benefits the last ones standing.
Instead, platform operators are encouraged to adopt a “community” mindset — embracing collaborative openness to promote upgraded competition, mutual benefit and business transformation, according to an interpretation released by the Antimonopoly Enforcement Bureau One of the State Administration for Market Regulation, or SAMR.
The remarks were made in the regulator’s official interpretation of the draft antitrust compliance guidance for internet platforms, issued Nov. 15 for public comment. Structured into five chapters and 38 articles, the draft guidance lays out systematic requirements for platform operators to assess, prevent and rectify antitrust compliance risks.
On its website, the regulator also stressed that platforms should shed the constraints of low-level, homogeneous competition and unlock greater potential for forward-looking R&D. Companies are being encouraged to shift toward high-quality innovation, expand into emerging industries and align more closely with national science and technology strategies that serve broader public interests.
While the guidelines are nonbinding, SAMR said they form part of a broader “whole-chain” enforcement initiative aimed at reducing uncertainty and helping platforms identify, assess and manage antitrust risks more proactively.
The guidelines recommend companies conduct regular self-assessments and establish internal compliance mechanisms.
Article 26 encourages platforms to conduct comprehensive audits of key operational rules, including account-management policies, end-user terms, agreements with in-platform merchants, cooperation terms with third-party service providers, traffic distribution mechanisms and promotional activity policies, to prevent antitrust compliance risks.
Article 27 recommends targeted screening and dynamic monitoring of core algorithmic models used in pricing, recommendation, ranking and advertising strategies, with a focus on identifying discriminatory design, unfair transaction guidance, excessive price adjustment and uniform pricing prompts.
It further encourages platforms to combine technical tools with human oversight, avoiding the creation of “algorithmic black boxes” that could undermine fair competition or harm consumer interests, and establish iterative correction mechanisms that allow algorithms to be adjusted.
Eight risk scenarios
The guidance also highlights eight specific risk scenarios as clear warnings to platforms: algorithmic collusion, organizing in-platform operators to reach monopolistic agreements, unfairly high pricing, below-cost selling, blocking and delisting, “choose one of two” exclusivity, “lowest price on the internet” clauses, and discriminatory treatment.
“These eight risk examples highlight monopoly concerns arising in specific operational scenarios,”
SAMR said, noting they touch on key operational activities such as data transmission, algorithm deployment, service pricing, search rankings, promotional displays and discount incentives.
While citing these risks, the agency cautioned that whether any given behavior violates the Antimonopoly Law must still be determined through formal investigation and comprehensive analysis.
Notably, the guidelines set out key principles for antitrust compliance, including the “penetration” principle, which requires platform operators to extend compliance systems across multiple corporate layers — from headquarters to branches and controlled subsidiaries — by strengthening top-level guidance, coordination, supervision and performance reviews.
Source: MLex
