MOFCOM continues efforts to increase enforcement of its merger notification requirements, despite very limited penalty options.

On January 4, 2016, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced that it had fined Japanese optics company Canon Inc. (Canon) CNY300,000 (approximately US$43,000) for not obtaining antitrust approval from MOFCOM prior to implementing the first step of its two-step acquisition of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Toshiba Medical). Both companies are Japan-headquartered, making this the first publicly-announced MOFCOM “gun-jumping” penalty for a transaction not involving a China-headquartered entity.