[co-author: Ken Dai]
Development Highlights
This monthly report outlines key developments in China’s antitrust sector for December. The following events merit special attention:
- SAMR Issues Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms (Draft for Comments): On 15 November 2025, SAMR released the Draft Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms. The draft provides a structured overview of key monopoly risks in the platform economy and offers practical conduct guidance for platform operators. It identifies eight illustrative risk scenarios, including algorithmic collusion between platforms, facilitating cartel conduct among on-platform businesses, unfairly high pricing, below-cost sales, blocking or delisting, exclusivity arrangements (“choose one of two”), “lowest price on the entire internet” requirements, and discriminatory treatment
- SAMR Clears Major Global Lithium Joint Venture with Conditions: On 10 November, SAMR conditionally approved the proposed joint venture between Chile’s state-owned Codelco and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM). SAMR found that the transaction could have actual or potential anticompetitive effects in China’s imported lithium carbonate market, citing China’s structural reliance on imported lithium resources, Chile’s role as a key supply source, the combined entity’s strengthened market position, and increased risks of coordinated conduct. Following multiple rounds of negotiations, the parties submitted behavioral commitments—including honoring existing contracts, supplying Chinese customers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, adopting safeguard measures in the event of major supply disruptions, and maintaining independent competitive conduct. SAMR ultimately granted clearance subject to these conditions.
- SAMR Concludes 528 Merger Cases in First Three Quarters; Over Half Involve SOEs: In the first three quarters of 2025, SAMR concluded 528 merger control cases, including 514 unconditional clearances, 4 conditional approvals, 1 prohibition, and 9 withdrawn filings. Merger activity was strongest in the manufacturing sector, particularly in automotive, chemicals, general equipment and computer-related industries. Simplified cases continued to dominate, totaling 457 and accounting for nearly 90% of all concluded cases. By ownership structure, transactions involving state-owned enterprises remained prominent, with 285 cases—representing approximately 55.4% of all filings.
Legislation
SAMR Issues Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms (Draft for Comments)
On 15 November 2025, the State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”) released the Draft Antitrust Compliance Guidelines for Internet Platforms. The draft provides a structured overview of key monopoly risks in the platform economy and offers practical conduct guidance for platform operators. It identifies eight illustrative risk scenarios, including algorithmic collusion between platforms, facilitating cartel conduct among on-platform businesses, unfairly high pricing, below-cost sales, blocking or delisting, exclusivity arrangements (“choose one of two”), “lowest price on the entire internet” requirements, and discriminatory treatment.
SAMR Seeks Public Comments on Measures for Determining Illegal Gains in Administrative Penalty Cases (Draft for Comments)
On 14 November, SAMR released the Draft Measures for Determining Illegal Gains in Administrative Penalty Cases for public consultation. The draft aims to create a unified framework across the market-regulation system for defining and calculating illegal gains. Key elements include clearer rules on what constitutes illegal gains, which business expenses may be deducted, and how to calculate gains in specific types of violations such as pricing misconduct, pyramid selling and measurement fraud. The draft also allows the use of audit reports, statistical data and third-party assessments as supporting evidence. SAMR intends for the measures to enhance consistency and legal certainty in enforcement.
Shanghai AMR Issues Compliance Guidelines for Funeral Service Operators
On 13 November, the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation (“AMR”) released Guidelines for Compliance of Funeral Service Operators in Shanghai’s Market Regulation Sector, outlining core competition law red lines. The document reiterates that operators must avoid horizontal coordination—including price-fixing, market allocation and collective boycotts—and may not organize or support such conduct through industry channels. It also cautions firms with significant market power against abusive practices such as unfair pricing, refusal to deal, exclusivity arrangements and tying. The guidelines aim to strengthen compliance discipline and curb antitrust risks in the funeral services sector.
Public Enforcement
SAMR Issues Penalty Decision Against Six Motorcycle Training Schools in Chongqing for Price-Fixing Arrangement
On 26 November 2025, SAMR released the penalty decision against six motorcycle driver-training institutions in Jiangjin District, Chongqing, for entering into and implementing a horizontal monopoly agreement. Beginning in 2017, the six schools jointly set up a centrally managed “head school” through which they coordinated pricing, training arrangements, fee schedules and profit allocation, and restricted students from attending training or examinations outside the district. These concerted practices effectively eliminated competition and pushed up local training costs, harming consumer interests. SAMR imposed fines of 5% of 2021 revenue on five of the schools involved, and a 1% fine on one school that participated in the agreement but did not implement it.
Xinjiang Fireworks Association Questioned for Organizing Market Division
On 17 November, the Xinjiang AMR held an antitrust compliance meeting with the Xinjiang Fireworks and Firecrackers Association. The authority found that the association had circulated a notice in an industry group requiring retail stores to purchase only from local wholesalers, in violation of the Anti-Monopoly Law(“AML”)’s prohibition on dividing sales markets. The Xinjiang authority instructed the association to withdraw the notice, strengthen its compliance framework, conduct a review and training on its internal rules, and submit a rectification report.
Authorities
SAMR Holds Compliance Lecture on Antitrust Regulation of IP Abuse
On 28 November 2025, SAMR held the 11th session of its 2025 Antitrust Compliance Lecture Series in Guangzhou, focusing on the antitrust implications of exercising intellectual property rights.The session explained key competition rules applicable to IP and encouraged businesses to exercise their IP rights lawfully and strengthen antitrust compliance.
SAMR Hosts Overseas Antitrust Compliance Workshop for the Aviation Sector
On 18 November, SAMR held the fourth session of its Overseas Antitrust Compliance Lecture Series, providing a systematic overview of key competition laws in major jurisdictions such as the EU and the United States. Drawing on typical aviation-sector cases, the workshop examined risk-identification and mitigation issues across merger control, cartel prevention and abuse-of-dominance compliance, offering airlines and aviation-related businesses practical, end-to-end guidance on building robust global antitrust compliance systems.
Merger Control
SAMR Concludes 528 Merger Cases in First Three Quarters; Over Half Involve SOEs
In the first three quarters of 2025, SAMR concluded 528 merger control cases, including 514 unconditional clearances, 4 conditional approvals, 1 prohibition, and 9 withdrawn filings. Merger activity was strongest in the manufacturing sector, particularly in automotive, chemicals, general equipment and computer-related industries. Simplified cases continued to dominate, totaling 457 and accounting for nearly 90% of all concluded cases. By ownership structure, transactions involving SOEs remained prominent, with 285 cases representing approximately 55.4% of all filings.
SAMR Clears Major Global Lithium Joint Venture with Conditions
On 10 November, SAMR conditionally approved the proposed joint venture between Chile’s state-owned Codelco and Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (SQM). SAMR found that the transaction could have actual or potential anticompetitive effects in China’s imported lithium carbonate market, citing China’s structural reliance on imported lithium resources, Chile’s role as a key supply source, the combined entity’s strengthened market position, and increased risks of coordinated conduct. Following multiple rounds of negotiations, the parties submitted behavioral commitments—including honoring existing contracts, supplying Chinese customers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, adopting safeguard measures in the event of major supply disruptions, and maintaining independent competitive conduct. SAMR ultimately granted clearance subject to these conditions.
Court Litigation
Supreme People’s Court Releases 2025 Typical Antitrust Cases
On 13 November 2025, the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) issued a Q&A addressing key issues in antitrust administrative litigation and the calculation of illegal gains. The Court clarified that lawsuits challenging an antitrust agency’s inaction should be treated as ordinary administrative cases rather than being funneled into courts with specialized antitrust jurisdiction. It further emphasized that illegal gains are generally calculated as all revenue derived from the monopolistic conduct minus reasonable operating costs, and neither enterprise income tax nor any hypothetical “normal income” absent the monopoly should be deducted. The guidance enhances consistency and predictability in antitrust enforcement and judicial review.
Shanghai Procuratorate Promotes Rectification of Anticompetitive Conduct in the Health Sector
On 6 November, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate released model cases illustrating the use of big-data tools in public-interest litigation, including a notable case handled by the Shanghai People’s Procuratorate involving anticompetitive conduct by administrative bodies in the health sector. Several district health commissions and affiliated institutions had imposed locality-based restrictions and scoring preferences in public tenders funded by fiscal budgets, unlawfully excluding or limiting competition. After screening over a thousand procurement notices, the Shanghai Procuratorate identified 53 problematic projects and filed a public-interest case. Through consultations, procuratorial recommendations, and coordinated rectification with finance and market regulation authorities, all relevant entities corrected the violations and conducted broader self-reviews.
