Source:
https://scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1587375/china-antitrust-regulator-discloses-penalties-boost
Business/ China Business

China antitrust regulator discloses penalties to boost transparency

The NDRC has penalised 24 insurers for violating antitrust law by fixing discounts for car insurance policies. Photo: Reuters

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.

This echoed similar accusations by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in August over antitrust probes it called unfair.

Last Wednesday, the US-China Business Council said companies being investigated were pressured to "admit guilt", appear without legal counsel and make statements without being informed of the grounds for investigation.

Liu Junhai, a law professor at Renmin University, said he believed the main purpose for NDRC to disclose investigation details of domestic insurers was to drive home the point that foreign firms were equally treated.

"The probes into the local insurers were conducted even before the recent investigations targeting foreign companies. The NDRC wants to show that the antitrust law enforcement is fair," Liu said.

Beijing has dismissed complaints about its three antitrust regulators and has said probes by the NDRC, the Ministry of Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce are conducted according to law.