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Legal Focus

JANUARY 2013

Competition Enforcement china

The Price Bureau of Guangdong Province (GDPB) recently carried out an investigation into price fixing in sea sand, and as a result of the lack of cooperation by companies during the investigation, it targeted six of the main players using the leniency program to extract evidence from the companies. The cartel subsequently broke down, exposing key members in the price fixing. The GDPB was then able to fine three companies RMB759,247 for their involvement. To find out more about this and the other issues that surround competition enforcement in China, Lawyer Monthly speaks to Ken Dai, a partner at Dacheng Law Offices. This firm specializes in antitrust, competition law compliance, merger control filing and private antitrust litigations.

Please introduce yourself, your role and your firm.

I earned my LLB and LLM respectively from the China University of Political Science and Law, and the University of Bristol in United Kingdom. My working languages are Mandarin, English and Cantonese. Currently, I am a member of the Outbound Investment and Antitrust Committee at the Shanghai Bar Association and Asian Competition Forum.

Founded in 1992, Dacheng Law Offices is one of the first partnership law firms in China. It is headquartered in Beijing, with more than 30 domestic branch offices and representative offices in China.

Dacheng Law Offices has been developing rapidly into have more than 3,000 PRC qualified lawyers in last few years. And currently, Dacheng Law Offices is the biggest law firm in Asia. Further, most of them graduated from the most prestigious universities or law schools in China, and some attorneys also have distinguished educational background aboard and have been working for international top-tier law firms. Hence, the attorneys within Dacheng Law Offices not only have rich experience in legal practice in China but also understand the commercial requirements of our clients and can meet the expectations in the international markets.

What are the key cases you deal with related to competition and anti-trust law?

I have advised certain multinational companies on www.lawyer-monthly.com

establishing antitrust law manuals and compliance programs.

I have also advised numerous

multinationals on the application of the PRC Anti-monopoly Law (AML) and enforcement policies in relation to distribution practices in China. In addition, I have varied experiences advising both foreign companies and domestic enterprises in making merger filings before Mofcom. Further, I have regularly assisted and represented certain enterprises in completing and bringing private antitrust litigations in China. I have experience advising companies in handling the legal issues between intellectual property rights and antitrust laws. I have also written numerous articles on the PRC Anti-monopoly Law, including: A Great Leap Forward for Definition of the Relevant Market and Merger Control in China: Perspective of Substantive Assessment.

the recent investigation by the Price Bureau of Guangdong Province (GdPB) comes as a stark reminder to companies participating in cartel behavior. What are your opinions on this?

The cartel conducts are always under the close scrutiny and tough sanction of antitrust law enforcement authorities all over the world. Actually, it is not the first time for National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) or its local counterparts to investigate and impose fines against the price cartel. For example, in March 2010, the Price Bureau of Guangxi Province adopted administrative penalties to several manufacturers of the rice flour for collectively raising the price; in July 2010, NDRC