CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Liu Cheng, Li Yumeng, Ye Hongtao and Jiang Hanxue, King & Wood
(MOUs) or co-operative agreements with various jurisdictions, including the European Union, the Phil - ippines, Belarus, Serbia, Russia, Japan, Korea and the Republic of Seychelles. For example, in March 2025, the SAMR and the European Commission Directorate- General for Competition co-organised the 28th China- EU Competition Week online. The Competition Week focused on topics such as China’s fair competition review system, assessment and evaluation of market competition, antitrust regulation in the digital econo - my, and merger review, etc. The SAMR may share information with the compe - tition authorities in other jurisdictions. Note that, in practice, the SAMR will monitor the progress of the merger control review with other jurisdictions very closely in the context of multi-jurisdictional filings. In specific cases, the SAMR may ask the notifying parties to grant a waiver so that it can discuss the non-confidential aspects of a transaction with other competition authorities. 8. Appeals and Judicial Review 8.1 Access to Appeal and Judicial Review According to Article 65 of the AML, where the parties are dissatisfied with a decision (in respect of concen - trations) made by the SAMR, they may appeal to the SAMR for an administrative review. Where the parties are still not satisfied with the administrative review, they may bring an administrative action before the intermediate court at the location of the SAMR. In March 2025, the Beijing Intellectual Property Court issued a landmark ruling on Tobishi v SAMR (with Simcere as the third party) – the first case in which a notifying party challenged a merger decision by the SAMR through judicial proceedings. The Simcere/Tobishi case also marks the first below- threshold transaction approved with restrictive con - ditions in China. Tobishi is the sole manufacturer of batroxobin injections in China, while Simcere is the sole distributor of batroxobin API in China and was also developing batroxobin injections, making it a potential entrant to the relevant market. After receiv -
ing voluntary filings from both Simcere and Tobishi, the SAMR conditionally approved the transaction with several restrictive conditions such as terminating the exclusive supply agreement between Simcere and DSM for batroxobin API in China, and divestiture of Simcere’s batroxobin injections business which it had been developing. Tobishi subsequently filed a request for administrative review, but the SAMR upheld the conditional approval decision. In March 2024, Tobishi brought the case before the court, and the court once again upheld the validity of the conditional approval decision. As no appeal was filed, the court ruling is now effective. 8.2 Typical Timeline for Appeals To appeal a decision, the parties need to first apply for an administrative review with the SAMR within 60 days from the date they receive the official decision issued by the SAMR. If the parties are not satisfied with the result of the administrative review, they may file for administrative litigation within 15 days after receipt of the result of the administrative review. There do not appear to have been any successful appeals in practice. 8.3 Ability of Third Parties to Appeal Clearance Decisions Stakeholders to the decisions have the right to bring an administrative action to challenge the SAMR’s decisions before the competent court. There do not appear to have been any successful actions in practice. 9. Foreign Direct Investment/Subsidies Review 9.1 Legislation and Filing Requirements In addition to the merger control regime, foreign investments into certain business sectors would be subject to an NSR. Foreign Subsidy In China, there is no separate filing procedure to review foreign subsidies before the implementation of a transaction. However, the Horizontal Merger
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