CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Yi Xue, Zhong Lun
losses due to the alleged monopolistic behaviours. As such, public interest litigation is not designed to provide the individual victim with a dispute resolution mechanism but serve as a remedy for the public inter - est as a whole. 4.2 Opting In or Out In the context of joint litigation/representative litigation concerning antitrust disputes, any party wishing to participate in the proceedings must comply with the opt-in requirements, either by initiating a lawsuit or registering with the court. 4.3 Direct/Indirect Purchasers Claims for damages before the courts are based on Article 60 of the AML and Article 2 of the New Judicial Interpretation. Both direct and indirect purchasers can bring claims for damages if they suffer losses attrib - uted to monopolistic conduct, as ‒ according to Article 122 of the Civil Procedure Law ‒ such losses qualify them as eligible to claim a direct stake in the case. 4.4 Class Certification Under the collective redress system in China, unlike the Western-style class action system, there is no class certification process available to litigants. In general, it is possible for any party who suffered from the same or analogous monopolistic behaviours to participate in representative litigation against such illegal monopolistic behaviours. As stated in 4.1 Statutory Basis , the procedure for engaging in representative litigation differs slightly between cases with a fixed number of parties and those with an uncertain number when the action is officially commenced. In the former scenario, initiat - ing representative litigation mandates that the relevant plaintiffs collaboratively identify and designate two to five representatives to present their claims before the court. In contrast, for the latter situation, the court may release a notice outlining the fundamental lawsuit particulars and urge potentially concerned parties to register within a designated timeframe. Any potential parties can, following such an opt- in mechanism, register with the court by furnishing preliminary evidence showcasing the harm they have incurred due to the alleged monopolistic behaviours.
Upon being accepted as eligible plaintiffs, the plain - tiffs can appoint representatives either through joint determination or consultation with the court. In the event that the consultation is unsuccessful, the court reserves the authority to directly designate represent - atives on behalf of the plaintiffs. In cases of public interest litigation, when the people’s procuratorate intends to file a lawsuit against monop - olistic conduct, it will make a public announcement 30 days in advance. This announcement will encom - pass basic information about the case and inform the qualified and interested parties of their legal right to initiate action in court. Should no qualified parties take action within 30 days following the announcement, the people’s procuratorate may then formally initiate civil public interest litigation. 5. Choice of Jurisdiction 5.1 Rules on Jurisdiction and Applicable Law Jurisdiction Please refer to 2.2 Courts , which provides a compre - hensive overview of the hierarchical jurisdiction regu - lations pertinent to antitrust lawsuits. As to territorial jurisdiction, Article 5 of the New Judicial Interpreta - tion stipulates that the territorial jurisdiction of civil monopoly disputes will be determined in accordance with the specific details of the case and pursuant to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law and the rel - evant judicial interpretations on the jurisdiction for tort disputes, contractual disputes, etc. Specifically, nuanced distinctions arise in the rules applicable to anti-monopoly disputes categorised as either tort or contract disputes. In scenarios where an anti-monopoly dispute can be classified as a tort dispute, the court at the place where the tort occurs or where the defendant’s domicile is located will have jurisdiction over the case. Concurrently, an anti- monopoly dispute categorised as a contract-based issue will fall within the jurisdiction of the court at the place where the relevant contact is performed or where the defendant’s domicile is located.
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