China Finalises Safe Harbour Rules For Vertical Restraints

In December 2025, China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued the Amended Provisions on the Prohibition of Monopoly Agreements (Amended Provisions). Most notably, the Amended Provisions provide details of the long-awaited thresholds of the safe harbours for resale price maintenance (RPM) and other non-price related vertical restraints (such as customer and geographical restraints).

Historically, SAMR has taken a strict approach towards RPM, and has generally viewed such arrangements with a presumption that they are anti-competitive. However, in the 2022 revision of China's competition law statute, the Anti-Monopoly Law (2022 AML), SAMR introduced a safe harbour exemption for RPM and other types of vertical restraints, but left the specific thresholds to be determined in subsequent regulation.