CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Qian Xiaoqiang, Yang Yikai and Chu Linxian, Haiwen & Partners
• In addition, it is worth mentioning that col - laboration between the Competition Authori - ties and judicial and prosecutorial bodies has been reinforced in recent years. For example, on 1 November 2023, the SAMR and the Beijing Intellectual Property Court held a conference on the mechanism for linking anti - trust administrative enforcement and judicial proceedings, during which they agreed to, inter alia: • establish a routine communication and liaison mechanism; • strengthen data and information sharing; and • explore a mechanism for the better use of case clues and investigative evidence. Further, on 27 March 2024, the Beijing AMR and the Beijing Municipal People’s Procurator - ate signed a memorandum and reached a con - sensus on strengthening the transferring of case clues, enhancing collaboration, conducting joint personnel training, etc. There are no specific rules limiting the exchange of information regarding inter-agency co-opera - tion/co-ordination. However, during the process of antitrust enforcement, when co-operation and co-ordination between agencies are involved, the Competition Authorities must comply with the confidentiality obligation under Article 49 of the AML (see 2.8 Protection of Confidential/ Proprietary Information ). 4.5 International Inter-Agency Co- Operation The Competition Authorities actively engage in communications and co-operation with numer - ous foreign agencies concerning general compe - tition policy. For instance, memoranda of under - standing were signed with many enforcement
agencies in other jurisdictions, including the EU, the USA, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Bra - zil, etc. While co-operation on specific cases is more common in merger control reviews, there has been a growing trend toward collabora - tion and information exchange on cross-border investigations, including those related to cartel conduct. Additionally, the Competition Authorities and enforcement agencies from other jurisdictions engage in mutual visits and meetings from time to time. Most recently, on 11 December 2024, the SAMR Deputy Commissioner met with the Minister of Competition and Antitrust Regula - tion of the Eurasian Economic Commission, to exchange views on antitrust legislation, enforce - ment, and strengthening practical co-operation in the competition field. On 18 March 2024, the Competition Authorities hosted the European Commission’s delegation in Beijing, where they conducted the China–EU competition policy dia - logue and discussed fair competition review and other related issues – to date, the SAMR and the European Commission have successfully hosted 27 sessions of the China–EU Competition Policy Week. Previously, in 2019, the SAMR led del - egations to Serbia, Morocco, Portugal, South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, engaging in high-level exchanges on competition policy and antitrust enforcement. Through these activities, the Competition Authorities and foreign enforce - ment agencies exchange information about their significant policies, legislative updates, and enforcement actions. Meanwhile, informal interactions and exchanges of views on spe - cific competition issues between officials from the Competition Authorities and foreign enforce - ment agencies may also take place.
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