What Are China's Merger Review Priorities?

What are China's merger review priorities?¹

China's merger control regime has been a topic of discussion for some time now.

Some commentators interpret Chinese merger control as being influenced by political factors; namely, more than encourage competition, it is yielded by authorities to stop foreign competitors from flooding China's market.²

But is that really the case?

What is the merger control regime like in China?

In China, like in the EU and the US, merger control regulates mergers, acquisitions and other transactions involving concentrations of undertakings. Since a concentration of undertakings may lead to concentration of market power, merger control is an important ex ante regulatory tool employed by antitrust authorities to keep markets healthy in many jurisdictions, and China is no exception.