Review №34 of Chinese Antitrust News from the Experts of the BRICS Competition Centre
- Competition and AI in the Joint Communiqué of the Heads of Government of Russia and China
- Reuters: China Bans Foreign AI Chips From State-Funded Data Centres
- Achievements of the 14th Five-Year Plan in Combating Unfair Competition
- Explanations by the Head of SAMR on Market Regulation Measures for the 15th Five-Year Plan
- Supreme People’s Court Found Alibaba Guilty of Abusing Its Dominant Market Position
- Gig Economy Workers Take Part in the Torch Relay of the National Games of China
- Q&A on Cross-Border Data Transfers
- Content Control Campaign During the National Games of China
- Meeting Between the Head of SAMR and Michael McGrath
Competition and AI in the Joint Communiqué of the Heads of Government of Russia and China
On November 3, the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mishustin, together with the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Li Qiang, held the 30th regular meeting of the heads of government of Russia and China. The joint communiqué following the meeting included points on cooperation in the fields of competition, artificial intelligence, and fair trade:
- to continue deepening interaction and contacts in the field of competition policy, strengthen practical cooperation in preventing cross-border violations of antimonopoly legislation;
- to expand the exchange of experience in law enforcement and legislation on the protection of trade secrets, and jointly combat offenses involving cross-border trade secrets;
- to ensure that artificial intelligence (AI) system algorithms comply with the laws of the respective countries within their territories;
- to establish an Expert Council on Cooperation in Artificial Intelligence as an analytical and advisory mechanism.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation
Reuters: China Bans Foreign AI Chips From State-Funded Data Centres
Reuters sources reported that the Chinese government has required state-funded data centres to use only domestically produced AI chips. This applies to centres whose construction is less than 30% complete: they must dismantle any already installed foreign chips or abandon plans to purchase them. Decisions regarding projects at more advanced stages will be made on a case-by-case basis. This move could become one of China’s most aggressive measures to eliminate foreign technologies from its critical infrastructure.
Source: Reuters
Achievements of the 14th Five-Year Plan in Combating Unfair Competition
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021–2025), China’s market regulator has achieved significant progress in creating a more open, fair, innovative, and competitive business environment:
- Amendments to the PRC Antimonopoly Law were adopted — for the first time in 15 years;
- About 50,000 cases of unfair competition were reviewed (including 4,296 in the internet economy);
- 4,218 administrative documents obstructing the free flow of production factors were identified and annulled;
- 239 cases of abuse of administrative authority by government bodies to restrict competition were reviewed;
- Guidelines on promoting effective compliance management for internet platform operators were published.
Source: WeChat
Explanations by the Head of SAMR on Market Regulation Measures for the 15th Five-Year Plan
In late October, the “Proposals of the CPC Central Committee on the Development of the 15th Five-Year Program for National Economic and Social Development” were adopted. In addition, the party leadership published a collection of explanatory texts, which included an article by SAMR head Luo Wen. He emphasized that China had only recently transitioned from a planned to a market economy, and its economic miracle, while beneficial, also brought problems such as excessive competition. Luo Wen outlined six key tasks for addressing market issues:
- to unify applicable legislation and regulatory institutions;
- to regulate the actions of local authorities in promoting economic development;
- to combat “involutionary” competition;
- to unify law enforcement practices;
- to continue reducing goods circulation costs;
- to engage all parties in building a unified national market.
Source: WeChat
Supreme People’s Court Found Alibaba Guilty of Abusing Its Dominant Market Position
On October 28, 2025, the Supreme People’s Court overturned the lower court’s ruling and issued a final judgment in the case filed by Li Zhen against Alibaba and its marketplaces Taobao and TMall. The lawsuit concerned the period from June 2017 to August 2021, when payments on the platforms could only be made through Alibaba’s own system, Alipay. The court ruled that the defendant abused its dominant position in the online retail platform market and imposed unreasonable restrictions by limiting users’ rights to choose third-party payment systemsоктября.
In April 2021, Alibaba had already been fined by SAMR for abuse of dominance. Since the violation had long ceased, no additional punitive measures were required, but the plaintiff was awarded approximately $1,500 in compensation for legal expenses.
Source: WeChat
Gig Economy Workers Take Part in the Torch Relay of the National Games of China
On November 2, the torch relay of the 15th All-China Games began in southern China. Huang Tianhua, a DiDi driver from Shenzhen, was chosen as one of the torchbearers as a representative of the new employment category. Huang Tianhua has worked as a DiDi driver for almost eleven years. He stated that becoming a torchbearer for the 15th All-China Games is not only a recognition of his personal achievements but also an acknowledgment of all hardworking ordinary workers.
Source: WeChat
Q&A on Cross-Border Data Transfers
In recent years, China has strengthened regulations on data exchange, including its export and other cross-border transfers. However, the introduced requirements are often insufficiently specific and fail to give market participants a full understanding of their obligations. To raise awareness and prevent misinterpretation, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) provided answers to frequently asked questions on cross-border data exchange, such as:
- Can operators handling important data apply for a security assessment later than the two-month period after being notified of having access to important data?
- If the data export procedure and recipient remain unchanged but the system is updated, must the operator reapply for a data export security assessment?
- If a personal data processing operator continuously exports data, should the standard data export contract be registered once or periodically?
Source: CAC
Content Control Campaign During the National Games of China
In connection with the 15th All-China Games (November 9–21) and the 12th China Special Olympics (December 8–15), the Cyberspace Administration launched a campaign to clean up online space from undesirable content. Considered undesirable are:
- spreading false information about the competitions;
- disseminating biased or distorted information about possible emergencies during the events;
- impersonating participants, their agents or relatives, regional authorities, or media representatives;
- spreading discriminatory information targeting specific groups, ethnicities, or regions, inciting regional conflicts, or maliciously damaging the image of host cities;
- providing unauthorized news services;
- using artificial intelligence to create and publish fake videos of the events, as well as false information about athletes, coaches, and judges;
- using identical or similar names to imitate websites, mobile apps, or mini-programs related to the competitions;
- deliberately disclosing personal information of athletes, coaches, and judges;
- inciting cyberbullying;
- fomenting conflicts among fans.
Source: WeChat
Meeting Between the Head of SAMR and Michael McGrath
On November 4, SAMR head Luo Wen met with Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, and the Rule of Law. The parties agreed to strengthen cooperation in areas such as product quality and safety control, consumer product recalls, platform economy management, and to ensure effective protection of consumer rights and interests in both China and the EU.
Source: SAMR
