The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China says it welcomes the promulgation of China's new Anti-Monopoly Law.

The President of the European Chamber, Joerg Wuttke said, "The European Chamber welcomes a more open economy and a level playing field for business in China. We hope the Anti-Monopoly Law will contribute to this. Most important, curbing monopolistic behavior should allow Chinese consumers to benefit from greater economic efficiency and stronger protection against the abuse of market dominance. They should enjoy greater choice and lower prices."

The European Chamber hopes that the new law has as positive an impact on the Chinese economy as EU Competition Law had on the development of the EU economy. The enactment and implementation of an effective EU Competition Law legislation removed impediments to economic growth in the internal EU market, and contributed to greater prosperity.

The European Chamber expects that the law and its forthcoming implementing regulations will constitute a legal framework that is transparent and coherent. Businesses should be able to assess the compliance of their agreements and merger and acquisition activity against the antitrust and merger rules. The Chamber therefore urges the Chinese authorities to move quickly towards publishing guidelines based on economic models which will be consistently followed in the process of enforcement.

The European Chamber says its members are concerned about the "national security review" to which foreign investors may be subject if they acquire domestic enterprises. It is not clear how such a national security review will be applied, especially given that "public interest" is not defined in the law. This concern is further underlined by the law's emphasis on the safeguarding of certain State-dominated industry sectors.

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