China's first anti-monopoly law, which requires foreign
purchases of Chinese companies to go through national security
checks, is expected to be put for a vote later this month after
being mulled for 13 years.
The draft law is "mature and ready for adoption," the Law
Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) told the ongoing
session of the NPC Standing Committee on Friday when submitting the
bill for consideration.
The draft said, "besides anti-monopoly checks stipulated by this
law, foreign mergers and acquisitions of domestic companies or
foreign capital investing in domestic companies' operation in other
forms should go through national security checks according to
relevant laws and regulations if the cases are related to the
issue."
The draft bill, aiming to protect fair competition, prevent and
check monopolistic behavior and maintain a regulated market place,
was first drafted in 1994 and submitted for the first review in
June 2006, for the second review in June 2007.
The anti-monopoly law is call economic constitution, which has
been in place in more than 80 countries in the world.
Lawmakers have said China's socialist market economy has turned
mature over more than one decade, and in current market
circumstances, the introduction of an anti-monopoly law is
imperative.
Besides the draft anti-monopoly law, the week-long session will
also discuss draft laws on emergency response, employment
promotion, labor dispute arbitration and recycling economy, and the
draft amendment to the Law on the Administration of the Urban Real
Estate, the Law on Science and Technology Progress and the Law on
the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution.
(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2007)