Remedies in Chinese Merger Control Law - Themes, Recent Cases and Developments

摘要

China has become an important player in the review of international merger transactions, and is applying a distinctive approach with regard to remedies, which has significant implications for merging parties and their advisers. The merger control regulator (the Antimonopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce or MOFCOM) has shown a clear willingness to impose wide-ranging remedies in its decisions to date. The framework governing merger control in China is set out in the Anti-monopoly Law (AML), which came into force a little under six years ago, and this permits MOFCOM to impose 'restrictive conditions' to reduce the restrictive effects of a transaction on competition. Out of the 783 cases that have been concluded as at 31 March 2014, MOFCOM has issued 21 decisions imposing remedies - meaning that restrictive conditions have been imposed in roughly 2.3 per cent of cases.