New Tool For Antitrust Investigations In China

In recent years, China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the antitrust enforcement agency responsible for price-related monopoly conduct, has cracked down on resale price maintenance (RPM) through a series of enforcement actions. These have targeted companies in industries including baby formula, automobiles, liquor, and eyeware. A recent penalty decision against Chinese white goods giant Haier issued by the Shanghai Price Bureau (the Shanghai branch of the NDRC) is particularly noteworthy, because it explicitly referenced screenshots of mobile phone chat histories as evidence to prove the RPM conduct. This decision raises the question, to what extent can personal communications such as smartphone messages be used as evidence in antitrust investigations?