- SAMR Called for Strict Compliance with the Anti-Unfair Competition Law
- Court did not Recognize the Joint Boycott of a Gaming Platform as an Anti-Competitive Agreement
- Inspections of Food Safety for Products Sold Online Have Begun
- Premature Launch of Apple Intelligence
- Public Disclosure of Prices for Funeral Services
- 28th China–EU Competition Week
- SAMR Meeting with IMCO
SAMR опубликовала SAMR issued a notice explaining key aspects of the updated Anti-Unfair Competition Law and requiring its effective enforcementу.
The notice emphasizes the need to fully eliminate “involution-style” competition, focusing on key sectors such as the platform economy, solar energy, lithium battery manufacturing, electric vehicles, and others. It calls for identifying platforms that manipulate technical tools (search results, rankings, algorithmic control, traffic restriction, product removal, commission increases, payment delays, suspension of transactions, etc.) to explicitly or implicitly force sellers to sell goods below cost.
Court did not Recognize the Joint Boycott of a Gaming Platform as an Anti-Competitive Agreement
The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court ruled on a case involving an alleged anti-competitive agreement. Five developers of different video games refused to cooperate with the Kuaiwan gaming platform in cross-platform mode because the platform offered excessive discounts and deprived them of a significant share of profits. In response, Kuaiwan filed a lawsuit, accusing them of a horizontal anti-competitive agreement and demanding cessation of collusion and compensation of 2 million yuan.
The court ruled that the actions of the five defendants did not constitute a joint boycott violating antitrust law and dismissed Kuaiwan’s claim. The court cited the following arguments:
1) Kuaiwan offered excessive discounts, allowing players access to games and in-game purchases at extremely low prices, giving them an unfair advantage over players using other channels who had to spend more.
2) As developers, the defendants have the right to regulate the business practices of game operators and the gaming environment. After receiving player complaints, they issued warnings to the plaintiff, but no corrective action was taken.
3) Cross-platform play is only one possible game mode, and its restriction does not deprive the plaintiff of access to the market through other channels.
4) Хотя Although the defendants jointly denied access to cross-platform mode, they did not agree on unified rules governing its use (such as discount levels or eligible participants).
Source: WeChat
Inspections of Food Safety for Products Sold Online Have Begun
SAMR has launched a campaign to oversee food safety in online sales. The kickoff meeting was held in Hangzhou (eastern China), bringing together representatives of e-commerce companies, industry associations, authorities, media, and consumers, with a call for stricter compliance with safety requirements.
Authorities will focus on three key issues: violations in live-stream sales, lack of control over the qualifications of online sellers, and widespread false advertising. The campaign aims to ensure food safety and create a secure, reliable, and convenient environment for online food consumption.
SAMR head Luo Wen has already begun on-site inspections, starting in Liaoning Province. A working group selected local food delivery platforms, live-stream operators, and MCN agencies for inspection, identifying violations and issuing recommendations for immediate correction.
Earlier, SAMR published two documents setting food safety requirements for food delivery services and food sellers, and instructed major platforms on ensuring food safety in online environments.
Premature Launch of Apple Intelligence
2On March 26, Apple accidentally activated the Apple Intelligence feature (an AI-based toolkit) for Chinese users before receiving regulatory approval. The feature was immediately disabled; however, industry experts believe the incident may trigger regulatory dissatisfaction and potential fines. The unauthorized rollout violates Chinese rules on data protection, AI registration and safety review, and algorithm filing requirements prior to deployment. It may be interpreted as providing services without fulfilling legal obligations, exposing the company to administrative penalties.
Source: SCMP
Public Disclosure of Prices for Funeral Services
Since July 2025, SAMR together with relevant authorities has been implementing a campaign to centrally publish information on the content and cost of funeral services.
The funeral industry provides essential services to countless families. Lack of clarity about service content, opaque pricing standards, and insufficient online information have long concerned the public. To address these issues, authorities developed a unified template requiring disclosure of service lists, pricing standards, prices, and units of measurement for funeral goods. Price information for 2,543 funeral service bureaus and 17,676 cemeteries nationwide is now available online via official local civil administration websites
Public disclosure has forced providers to standardize services and pricing, reducing unjustifiably high prices. As a result, average funeral costs have decreased by 33%, and the average price of burial plots in commercial cemeteries by 20%.
Source: SAMR
28th China–EU Competition Week
From March 23 to 27, SAMR and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Competition held the 28th China–EU Competition Week online. The parties exchanged views on China’s fair competition review system, the EU’s state aid control system, market competition assessment, antitrust regulation in the digital economy, and merger control.Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation in antitrust enforcement, maintaining fair market competition, and promoting further development of bilateral economic and trade relations.
Source: WeChat
SAMR Meeting with IMCO
On March 31 in Beijing, SAMR head Luo Wen met with Anna Cavazzini, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). The parties held in-depth discussions on consumer protection, competition policy, regulation of online platforms, product quality and safety control, technical standards, and certification защиты прав потребителей, поддержки конкуренции, регулирования онлайн-платформам, контроля качества и безопасности продукции, технических регламентов и сертификации.
Source: SAMR
