China’s competition regulators launch new year reforms: Part 1 - Pricing - 7 January 2011

China's competition law regulators have published much anticipated implementation rules under China's Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), announced a new price fixing decision, and sent a warning to firms in China that they should expect further investigations in 2011 and should take immediate steps to review their pricing policies.

Overview

On 4 and 7 January 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) respectively published their long awaited substantive rules, which provided much needed assistance in the interpretation of the broad framework prescribed under the AML. The issuance of the new regulations is timely given the government's intention to ensure price stability by putting in place measures to help safeguard pricing practices in China, particularly among dominant market players.