European Commission And Chinese MOFCOM Agree Best Practices Framework For Merger Control Cooperation

On 15 October 2015, the European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce ("MOFCOM") agreed to Practical Guidance for Cooperation on Reviewing Merger Cases (the "Guidance"), outlining a best practices framework for merger control cooperation between the EU and Chinese authorities.

The Commission and Chinese authorities agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding in 2012 describing potential exchanges of views and experiences with respect to competition and anti-monopoly law (see VBB on Competition Law, Volume 2012, No. 9, available at www.vbb.com). The Memorandum of Understanding also established that, if the Commission and Chinese authorities were to pursue enforcement activities concerning the same or related matters, they may exchange non-confidential information, experiences, and views on the matter and, where appropriate and practicable, directly coordinate their enforcement activities.