CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Yi Xue, Zhong Lun
After the public interest litigation mechanism for monopolistic conduct was formally established, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) issued guid - ance in 2022 and 2024, clarifying supervision priorities and case-handling procedures in order to direct proc - uratorial organs nationwide to pursue anti-monopoly cases more actively. SPP statistics show that, in 2024, procuratorial organs nationwide filed 60 public interest litigation cases in the antitrust and anti-unfair compe - tition fields ‒ an 81.8% year-on-year increase. A notable example is the People’s Procuratorate of Heze City’s intervention in the local shared-bicycle sector. After identifying that three dominant operators were abusing their market position to impose exces - sive fees, the procuratorate convened the Urban Man - agement Bureau and the companies for negotiated remediation. Under its supervision, the three opera - tors agreed to lower their prices and adopt transpar - ent, reasonable charging rules ‒ thereby restoring competitive conditions and fostering the sustainable development of the industry. Pursuant to its latest work plan, the SPP will fur - ther strengthen the research and assessment of case leads, expand efforts to collect clues in the anti-monopoly field, and actively handle a series of public interest litigation cases involving monopolies.
It will also guide procuratorial organs at all levels to strengthen anti-monopoly supervision in sectors related to public interest and social welfare (eg, the internet, public utilities, and pharmaceuticals). Fur - thermore, to ensure seamless enforcement, the SPP will institutionalise a co-ordination mechanism linking antitrust law enforcement authorities and procurato - rial organs ‒ thereby facilitating collaboration on clue transfer, information sharing and professional consul - tations in handling public interest litigation. Outlook Looking ahead, the SPC will continue to strengthen the anti-monopoly judicial work, accurately apply the Anti-Monopoly Law and the New Judicial Interpreta - tion, and remain focused on anti-monopoly issues in key sectors ‒ including internet platforms, technologi - cal innovation, IP, public intertest and social welfare, industry associations, natural monopoly industries, and the abuse of administrative power ‒ in order to resolutely safeguard fair market competition. As litiga - tion rules for monopoly cases improve and enterpris - es’ compliance awareness grows, it is anticipated that more undertakings will turn to anti-monopoly litigation to protect their legitimate rights and interests, leading to a continued rise in the number of civil monopoly litigation cases.
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