On September 7, Alexey Ivanov, Director of the BRICS Competition Law and Policy Centre, spoke at China’s National Fair Competition Conference in Xi’an. The event was organized by the Competition Policy and Assessment Center (CPAC) of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) of China and the Administration for Market Regulation of Shaanxi Province. During the session “Strengthening the Anti-Monopoly Review of Concentrations of Undertakings to Empower High-Quality Development of the Unified National Market,” Ivanov presented approaches to fostering competition amid the rapid transformation of digital markets and the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.
In his remarks, Alexey Ivanov stressed that AI should be viewed not simply as a standalone technology, but as a factor that is fundamentally changing the structure and functioning of markets. Against this backdrop, traditional tools of market analysis and antitrust enforcement are becoming insufficient. In his view, competition should remain one of the key principles underpinning the development of the AI market, as it can help ensure fairer and more transparent conditions for all market participants.
This agenda is gaining increasing international recognition. In particular, the importance of promoting competition and creating an inclusive, sustainable environment for AI development was highlighted in the 2025 BRICS Leaders’ Statement on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence, adopted at the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, as well as in the declaration of the World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), signed this year in Shanghai.
© HSE University
Ivanov expressed particular concern about the potential for AI to further increase market concentration. Alongside traditional mergers, strategic partnerships, technological agreements, digital platforms and closed ecosystems are emerging that remain outside the scope of conventional merger control. Such developments can be observed, in particular, in agricultural value chains and the automotive industry.
“Technological partnerships like Covantis or Catena-X, which look like technological joint ventures, essentially create a new form of market concentration, a quasi-merger type of arrangement. Arrangements which really help incumbent dominant firms to further control the development of value chains in different sectors,”
Ivanov said.
In response to the challenges posed by the development of AI and digital markets, BRICS competition authorities should strengthen merger control, including in relation to cross-border transactions. At the same time, it is important to consider their actual effects and assess transactions not only in terms of their impact on market concentration, but also with regard to their effects on social benefits, different constituencies and all relevant stakeholders, Ivanov argued.
© State Administration for Market Regulation of China
To implement this approach, a system mapping methodology can be used to analyze transactions in the context of complex economic and social interdependencies. This methodology can be applied both ex ante, before a transaction is completed, and ex post, to assess the actual effects of a transaction.
In the absence of a unified global system for merger control, countries need to develop more coordinated approaches, including within the BRICS framework. At the same time, digital tools should be developed to help competition authorities better monitor changes in markets and assess the consequences of complex corporate interactions. At present, only a limited number of regulators use such technologies.
“The BRICS Competition Centre is currently working on the architecture of an AI-driven preparation tool, which employs all these new methodologies necessary to make sense out of the complexity of the modern marketplace, obviously, the AI-transformed marketplace. It can help competition authorities to better share data and understand how this market is transforming,”
Alexey Ivanov said.
The paradox of the current situation is that artificial intelligence simultaneously makes the work of regulators more complex and creates new opportunities for them. According to the speaker, technological modernization will enable competition authorities to keep pace with the rapid development of markets and preserve competition as a foundation for the fair and sustainable development of the digital economy.
The China National Fair Competition Conference is taking place in Xi’an on September 7–8 under the theme “Unified National Market, Fair Competition for the Future.” The conference is one of the key events of the 2026 China Fair Competition Policy Publicity Week and brings together representatives of competition authorities from around the world, international organizations, academia, and the business community.
