UPI Asia Online Publish Article On China's Anti-Trust Law & Multinationals
Written by Sean Hocking
In an article penned by Cong Cao...
UPI Asia online debate whether new Anti-Trust laws will curb the monopolistic behaviors of state-owned enterprises in China
They write: For quite some time, the Chinese state dominated the economy, determining what to produce at what quantity and what to sell at what price. Even with the reform, the state still “monopolizes” such sectors as telecommunications, utilities and petroleum with state-owned enterprises in the name of protecting the nation’s strategic interests. The protectionist policy has been criticized for behaviors such as charging excessively high prices, providing low-quality services, and receiving excessive profits, as well as eroding the competitiveness of these companies.
It remains to be seen whether the new law will curb the monopolistic behaviors of state-owned enterprises holding lawful monopoly positions or rather protect those SOEs. But Li Rongrong, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, unequivocally indicated that reorganization of the SOEs, especially those administered by SASAC, is deemed to be beneficial to the national economy and will be exempt from anti-trust examination. Apparently, the ongoing reorganization in China’s telecommunications sector falls into this category.
