China Establishes State Administration For Market Regulation To Integrate Antitrust Enforcement

China recently established the State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR"), which combines the antitrust enforcement responsibilities of the previous Price Supervision and Antimonopoly Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission ("NDRC"), the Antimonopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM"), and the Antimonopoly and Anti-unfair Competition Bureau of the State Administration of Industry and Commerce. Physical integration has begun. As of May 14, 2018, merger filings will be made to SAMR instead of MOFCOM.

In the short term, integration of the three Chinese antimonopoly enforcement agencies into the new SAMR may give rise to some uncertainties and delays for ongoing merger reviews and conduct investigations. However, in the long run, the institutional reform likely will have profound implications. First of all, the new agency will be able to combine the enforcement resources of the previous agencies, thus streamlining the enforcement