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China says anti-trust probes ‘fair and transparent’
Print Edition
CHINA’S three anti-monopoly regulators yesterday launched a vigorous defense of their recent investigations into both Chinese and foreign companies, which have prompted some criticism, and insisted they were not targeting multinational firms.
At least 30 foreign firms, including US companies Qualcomm Inc and Microsoft Corp, have come under scrutiny as China seeks to enforce a 2008 anti-monopoly law.
“Our anti-trust enforcement work is strictly conducted according to regulations,” said Xu Kunlin, director general of the National Development and Reform Commission’s Price Supervision and Inspection and Anti-Monopoly Bureau.
“It is fair and transparent. It is not targeting any market player and, of course, it is not targeting any foreign-invested or foreign enterprises,” said the director general.
Xu added that the investigation into Qualcomm, one of the world’s biggest makers of mobile chips, was “basically done” and that the NDRC planned to meet the company’s president, Derek Aberle, today.
Yesterday’s rare joint press conference, which also included anti-trust heads from the Ministry of Commerce and State Administration for Industry and Commerce, showed the regulators presenting a united front.
It comes days after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang defended at a global forum a series of investigations into overseas companies amid growing concern from the foreign business community.
Li said that only 10 percent of companies impacted by anti-trust investigations were foreign.
In the past two weeks, four leading international business lobbies have raised alarm over the investigations.
Their complaints range from worries that foreign companies are being “unfairly targeted” by probes motivated by China’s industrial policy aims, to concerns over the use of strong-arm tactics by Chinese regulators.
On Wednesday, US Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Edith Ramirez spoke publicly about reports of China’s enforcement of its anti-trust law and its investigation of Qualcomm.
“I am seriously concerned by these reports, which suggest an enforcement policy focused on reducing royalty payments for local implementers as a matter of industrial policy, rather than protecting competition and long-run consumer welfare,” Ramirez said, without mentioning Qualcomm by name.
Xu dismissed them as unrepresentative and lacking a factual basis.
“We asked some of the companies we were investigating about the criticism in these reports. The companies told me they didn’t know why they would issue these kinds of statements. They said they didn’t make those criticisms and they didn’t represent their opinions,” Xu said.
“Our communication with all of the companies we are investigating is extremely free-flowing,” Xu added.
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