Antitrust Regulation in the Digital Economy: Industry Developments and the Amendment of the Anti-Monopoly Law

By Chenying Zhang

Internet applications are becoming increasingly widespread, Internet-based trading platforms and associated big data have gradually developed. There is worldwide concern about data security. This is increasingly becoming an issue in competition enforcement against big-tech companies. As a country with a large number of Internet users and a huge Internet economy market, China is also facing these problems. This article discusses the principles applicable to these concerns under China’s anti-monopoly law, and analyzes possible amendments to the law, which are under discussion.

By Chenying Zhang¹

I. INTRODUCTION

Internet technology has become increasingly widespread. Over more than 20 years, Internet-based platforms and their associated “big data” have gradually grown in economic importance. The use of big data, moreover, has enhanced cross-border Internet trading, which has aroused worldwide concern about data security. Apart from data protection concerns, an important issue is competition enforcement with respect to bigtech companies. As a country with an enormous amount of Internet users, and thus a huge Internet economy, China is also facing problems related to the supervision of digital markets. The State Administration for Market Regulation (“SAMR”), the top market regulator in China, has made a number of enactments, including its Interim Provisions on Prohibiting Abuse of Market Dominance (th