PRC Anti-Monopoly Law: Practical Aspects For Practitioners On Prior Notification Of Concentration Of Undertakings

The veto on March 18 of Coca-Cola's bid for China Huiyuan Juice Group ("Coca-Cola's case") by the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China ("MOFCOM") has incited much discussion about the implementation of the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law ("AML"), particularly the requirement of prior notification of concentrations of undertakings under Article 21. The notification in Coca-Cola's case was first submitted to MOFCOM on 18 September 2008, followed by four subsequent submissions of supplemental material upon MOFCOM's request.

On 5 January 2009, the Anti-Monopoly Bureau of MOFCOM ("AMB") replaced existing directives when they announced two new guidance opinions about notification of concentration of undertakings and the materials required for such a submission ("the new opinions"). Some commentaries claim the new opinions stem from the Coca-Cola submissions and characterise them as guidelines intended to replace individual information requests by MOFCOM on future