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China: Agencies to push infant formula consolidation after scandal

By  |  June 15, 2014

Chinese regulators announced Friday they plan to invest in the consolidation of the domestic infant milk formula industry in efforts to strengthen local competition after various foreign companies were fined for price-fixing.

According to reports, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the China Food and Drug Administration announced late last week that it will pump funds into the industry and provide tax breaks to companies for merging. The regulators aim to create 10 infant formula competitors that own 65 percent of the market.

The plans are part of the nation’s efforts to improve the infant milk industry after six international competitors were fined $109 million for anticompetitive behavior, including price-fixing.

More than 40 foreign firms hold a presence in the Chinese market, reports say.

Full content: Forbes

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