McDermott Will & Emery has a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices, a separate law firm based in Shanghai. This China Law Alert was authored by MWE China Law Offices lawyers Henry (Litong) Chen and McDermott lawyer Frank Schoneveld.

China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce has imposed the first fines for violation of the country’s Anti-Monopoly Law on a concrete cartel. The swift action indicates business operators should anticipate more widespread and vigorous investigations by the newly empowered Chinese competition regulatory authorities.

Within weeks of the promulgation of the new regulations clarifying and extending the enforcement powers of China’s anti-trust authorities, the country has taken its first action to sanction partitioning of markets. According to a post on the website of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) on 26 January 2011, fines have been imposed on a concrete cartel under the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai. The local branch of SAIC has fined the Committee for Concrete (which belongs to the Lianyungang City Construction Material and Machinery Association) RMB 200,000 for illegally dividing the concrete market.

Please see full article below for more information.