Rules on anti-monopoly filings and concentrations come into effect

The Business Operator Concentrations Filings Measures (Filing Measures) and the Review of Business Operator Concentrations Measures (Review Measures), issued by the Ministry of Commerce, came into effect on 1 January. The two sets of measures, which are ministerial level regulations formulated pursuant to the PRC Anti-Monopoly Law, set out specific provisions on matters relating to anti-monopoly filings and the review of business operator concentrations.

Concentrations, M&A

The “concentrations” specified in Article 20 of the Anti-Monopoly Law include the two commonly seen forms of company mergers and acquisitions, “mergers” and “acquisition, by way of equity or asset acquisition, of control over another business operator”, as well as the “acquisition, by way of contract or other such means, of control over, or the ability to exert a decisive influence on, another business operator”.

Business turnover

Given that the fundamental basis for determining whether a filing needs to be made in relation to a concentration is the business turnover, and in particular the “business turnover in China”, of the relevant business operators, Article 4 of the Filing Measures specifies the scope of business turnover and defines what “business turnover in China” is.