China antitrust regulator discloses penalties to boost transparency
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) last Tuesday posted on its website details of disciplinary penalties imposed against Zhejiang Provincial Insurance Association and 23 other insurers in the province.
The mainland anti-monopoly regulator's move to disclose penalties slapped on domestic insurers aims to boost transparency after US and European business groups accused Beijing of unfairly targeting foreign firms in investigations, experts said.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) last Tuesday posted on its website details of disciplinary penalties imposed against Zhejiang Provincial Insurance Association and 23 other insurers in the province.
They violated antitrust law by fixing discounts for car insurance policies, it said.
The decision was sent to the companies and association in December 2013, but was only posted on the website last week.
"The NDRC wants to show that domestic and foreign companies are equally treated," said Deng Zhisong, a partner with Beijing's Dacheng Law Office.
The American Chamber of Commerce in China released a report last Tuesday saying foreign firms were unfairly targeted by China's opaque laws on issues such as antitrust enforcement, IT security and other regulations lacking transparency.