The Legislative Council looks set to pass the competition bill within days - but whether it will be seen as a powerful tool against anti-competitive behaviour or as ineffective and watered down remains in question.
The bill - under discussion for more than a decade - bans anti-competitive practices such as price-fixing and bid-rigging. However, government concessions on the size of penalties and the introduction of a turnover threshold for prosecutions have dampened enthusiasm.
But while academics and lawmakers believe the law will usher in a more efficient environment for business and erode long-held anti-competitive practices, the small businesspeople the law was intended to help doubt they will ever be able to use it.
The bill, which could come before Legco as soon as Wednesday, has secured pledges of support from 34 of the 60 lawmakers, with the pan-democrat camp and the pro-government Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong lining up behind it. Lawmaker Ronny Tong Ka-wah, of the pan-democrat Civic Party, said he would support the bill despite two rounds of concessions to the business lobby.
'At least the four hardcore conducts [price-fixing, bid-rigging, market-sharing and agreeing to limit the quantity of a product in the market] will still be curbed,' Tong said. 'Having a law is better than none.'
Thomas Cheng Kin-hon, chairman of the Consumer Council's working group on the competition bill, said the law would mark the start of a shift in the city's business culture.