Review №9 of Chinese Antitrust News from the Experts of the BRICS Competition Centre
- Market Regulation in the 15th Five-Year Plan
- SAMR Legislative Work Plan for 2026
- Apple Reduces Commissions in Chinese App Store
- Seminar for Internet Platforms in Zhejiang Province
- What Chinese Consumers Complained About in 2025
- Compliance Lecture Series Starts in March
Market Regulation in the 15th Five-Year Plan
From March 3 to 12, the so-called “Two Sessions” were held in Beijing—parallel meetings of China’s legislative and advisory bodies. During these sessions, the 15th Five-Year Plan for the country’s economic and social development was approved and published. Excerpts related to competition and antitrust regulation include:
- Adhere to the coexistence of an effective market and an active government. Fully implement the decisive role of the market in resource allocation; leverage the government more effectively to build a unified, open, competitive, and orderly market system <…> Form an economic system that has sufficient freedom but is well-regulated.
- Apply planning and guidance, capacity regulation and control, price regulation, encouragement of industry self-discipline, and other measures to comprehensively combat “involutionary” competition.
- Combine development incentives with regulation; intensively develop legislation on data infrastructure and artificial intelligence governance; create a favorable, safe, and fair environment for development.
- Promote innovative and healthy development of the platform economy, strengthen oversight of data, algorithms, traffic, and platform rules; support mutually beneficial development among platform operators, sellers, and workers. Combat data abuse, deepfakes, and leaks of confidential information.
- Vigorously remove obstacles to creating a unified national market, eliminate local protectionism and market segmentation; facilitate the smooth flow of goods, production factors, and resources on a wider scaleу.
- Strengthen antitrust regulation and fight unfair competition.
- Use legal and institutional measures to ensure equal access to production factors, fair participation in market competition, and effective protection of lawful rights and interests. Constantly promote fair openness of competitive infrastructure sectors for private enterprises.
- Strengthen price regulation in production and supply chain links where network-type natural monopolies operate.
SAMR Legislative Work Plan for 2026
The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) published its Legislative Work Plan for 2026.
Regarding online commerce regulation and increased platform accountability, the plan foresees drafting two provisions on food safety responsibility: one for online food sellers and another for food delivery service providers.
In antitrust regulation, the plan includes drafting amendments to the Methods for Implementing Fair Competition Review, which came into effect on April 20, 2025.
Source: WeChat
App Store Apple Reduces Commissions in Chinese App Store
Following negotiations with Chinese regulators, Apple announced a reduction in commissions charged for purchases in the Chinese App Store on iPhone and iPad devices. The new policy took effect on March 15, and no action is required from users.
For in-app purchases and paid apps, the commission was reduced from 30% to 25%. For purchases and auto-renewals of subscriptions (after one year) under the App Store Small Business Program and Mini Apps Partner Program, the commission decreased from 15% to 12%.
Apple emphasized its commitment to fair and transparent conditions for all developers and stated that it will always offer competitive rates in the Chinese App Store no higher than in other markets.
This is the first time Apple has reduced its “tax” in China since the App Store officially entered the Chinese market in 2010. Five million Chinese developers will save over 6 billion yuan per year. However, Apple has not yet allowed apps to be installed via third-party services, so Chinese users currently lack many payment options. The market expects that “under continuous regulatory pressure, Apple will remove these barriers as well.”
Sources: Renmin Ribao, WeChat 1, WeChat 2
Seminar for Internet Platforms in Zhejiang Province
The Zhejiang Provincial Market Regulation Administration, together with the provincial E-Commerce Association, held a seminar on antitrust compliance for internet platforms. More than 150 companies participated. The seminar focused on explaining regulations, emphasizing the Guidelines on Antitrust Compliance for Internet Platforms published earlier this year.
The organizers highlighted the eight types of antitrust risks listed in the Guidelines, which platforms may encounter in data transmission, algorithm use, pricing, search ranking, recommendation displays, traffic allocation, and subsidies. They also reminded participants of the 15 general responsibilities of marketplaces established in the thematic List, effective in the province since 2023, including seller qualification verification, personal data protection, fair competition, consumer rights protection, intellectual property protection, etc.
Zhejiang Province is a leader in China’s digital economy and is home to the headquarters of the internet giant Alibaba.
Source: WeChat
What Chinese Consumers Complained About in 2025
Source: SAMR
Compliance Lecture Series Starts in March
The first SAMR lecture on antitrust compliance in 2026 will be held on March 24. A total of six lectures are planned on the following topics:
1) “Safe Harbors” in the revised Provisions on Prohibition of Anti-Competitive Agreements
2) Antitrust methodological recommendations for the utilities sector
3) Guidelines on antitrust compliance for internet platforms
4) Antitrust compliance as a driver for developing innovative production capacities
5) Strengthening antitrust compliance to support the development of the Shanghai International Science and Innovation Center (Yangtze River Delta)
6) Motivating companies to enhance compliance capabilities and build antitrust compliance systems.
SAMR has been conducting antitrust compliance lectures since 2024. By the end of 2025, a total of 21 lectures covered a wide range of topics: pharmaceuticals, utilities, digital economy, intellectual property, and more, with over 1,000 enterprises participating.
Source: SAMR
