Anti-monopoly draft provokes debate

By Liu Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-15 08:44

Sheng, director of the Institute of Economic Law at Peking University, also pointed out that a multi-department law enforcement system would not work.

On combating administrative monopolies such as the postal service or the railways, Wang disagreed with the part of the draft that authorizes higher authorities to correct governmental misuse of power that hampers market competition.

If the draft is adopted without a change in that area, she said, "it may mean the anti-monopoly law enforcement organization has no right to curb administrative monopolies."

The answer, she said, is to empower the anti-monopoly law enforcement organization to deal with administrative monopolies.

The draft was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) in June for the first read, and the second read is not expected until the first half of next year.

Other experts praised the draft for addressing both domestic and foreign monopolies.

Huang Yong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics who also participated in the legislation, said that the law does not target only foreign monopolies.

"Maintaining order in competition that does not discriminate against foreign companies accords with China's interests," he said.

Complaints against monopolies of multinationals include areas such as laptop computers, beverages, and supermarkets.


 12

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)