Hunan Province's First Private Antitrust Case

On 3 November 2010, it was reported in the press¹ that the Changsha Yuelu District People's Court (in Hunan province) accepted the court's first private antitrust claim. The antitrust claim was formally accepted by the court 1 November 2010 and is an abuse of dominance case.

Facts

The plaintiff, Mr Liu Dahua has made a claim against Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company (Dongfeng Nissan) & Hunan Huayuan Industry Corporation Ltd (Hunan Huayuan), alleging that the latter has abused its dominance in relation to the auto-repair and auto parts industry.

From press reports, we understand that this is an abuse of dominance case (pursuant to Article 17 of the Anti-Monopoly Law or AML). Further, from the facts presented in this press reports, we think that it is likely that Mr Liu's claim is based on Article 17(4) (prohibiting business operators from abusing their dominance by restricting sales without a valid reason) or Article 17(6) (prohibiting business operators