Firms ask if foreign and local players will be treated equally
When news that instant-noodle makers were raising prices made headlines in the mainland media last summer, Frank Lin, the chief financial officer of top instant noodle maker Tingyi (Cayman Islands) Holding Corp, said he had not expected such an overwhelming reaction as the increase was not big.
In hindsight, he realised the fuss was not due only to the price adjustment but also because his company and its rivals raised the prices of products almost at the same time, prompting the government to undertake a probe on price-fixing.
Mr Lin calls the controversy 'an accident' that is unlikely to happen again and says that noodle-makers have learned their lesson.
More importantly, an anti-monopoly law came into force yesterday, seeking to promote competition and protect consumers from unfair pricing and business practices.
More than two decades in the making, the new law covers almost all industries and overhauls laws and regulations on pricing, abuse of dominance, merger clearance and anti-competitive practices.
