New MOFCOM Rules On Evaluating The Concentration Of Business Operators

The Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") issued the long-awaited Interim Rules on Evaluating Competitive Effects of Concentration of Business Operators (2011 Announcement No. 55) (the "Interim Rules") on August 29, 2011.¹ Before the formal promulgation of these Interim Rules, MOFCOM published a draft of the Interim Rules on June 3, 2011 for a ten-day solicitation of public comments. The formally promulgated Interim Rules keep almost all the contents of the June 3, 2011 draft. The Interim Rules, which took effect on September 5, 2011, provide some guidelines with respect to MOFCOM's evaluation of the competitive effect of a potential transaction.

1. Basis of the Interim Rules

The Interim Rules serve as a supplement to the Anti-Monopoly Law and elaborate on the methods and procedures to be adopted by MOFCOM in evaluating the competitive effect of a concentration of business operators.