Multinational lens makers fined for price fixing

At least five multinational lens manufacturers were fined a total of more than 19 million yuan (HK$23.8 million) for price fixing in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website yesterday.

The multinationals fined include Johnson & Johnson, the world's biggest health-care-products maker, US eye health giant Bausch & Lomb, Nikon of Japan, Essilor of France and German optical firm Carl Zeiss.

Hoya, a Japanese medical technology firm, and a Chinese optical company, Weicon, were investigated by NDRC but were not fined because they provided evidence to the Chinese authorities and changed their anti-competitive ways, the NDRC said.

Since August last year, the NDRC had conducted an investigation of the optical industry after receiving tip-offs, it said.

"To keep up prices in the lens market, the suspect companies routinely resorted to punitive measures, including the withdrawal of bonuses, fines and halting supplies … if distributors or retailers kept to the price limits, they would be rewarded with bonuses," the NDRC said.

"As well-known brands whose businesses are large with substantial market share, the behaviour of the suspect companies has restricted the ability of retailers to set prices, which violated the anti-monopoly law, hurt fair competition, and kept prices high, which hurt consumers' interests."