Читать книгу Raising Awareness of Anticompetitive Behavior in the Financial Sector of the People's Republic of China - Hiroko Uchimura-Shiroishi - Страница 4

Monopolistic behaviors adversely affect industries and consumer welfare. They discourage competition in an economy, holding back development and slowing down progress. They cause the inefficient allocation of resources, distort the dynamics of market forces, and reduce incentives for industries to innovate. As a corrective measure, governments adopt laws and regulations that would lessen, if not totally eliminate, monopolistic behaviors. Such was the case of the passage of the competition law in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 2008.

Serving as the backbone of any modern economy, the financial sector is a key area covered by the competition law of the PRC. This paper examines the application of the law in the PRC’s banking, insurance, and securities markets. It evaluates the prevailing enforcement and regulatory practices relative to the competition law, and reviews issues that cause conflicts between the antimonopoly enforcement authorities and the financial regulators. These issues include scope of enforcement, policy targets, work methods, and work emphasis. While no antimonopoly case has been officially reported since the law was passed, the study points out monopolistic behaviors in the PRC’s financial industry that warrant the attention of the enforcement authorities.

Enforcing the competition law in the PRC’s financial sector is difficult primarily because of a lack of detailed implementation regulations, lack of coordination between the antimonopoly agencies and the financial regulators, and conflict of interest between state ownership of large financial institutions and the need for increased competition in the financial sector. Consequently, the PRC’s antimonopoly enforcement authorities have been asking for the implementing regulations to strengthen the implementation of the law. ADB will continue to support this initiative because it believes that the adoption of a concrete and specific competition policy will ensure the effective implementation of the competition law.

The cooperation between ADB and the PRC on antimonopoly issues has come a long way since 2003. ADB is pleased to have contributed to the PRC’s efforts in adopting the competition law and in developing a comprehensive competition policy. By providing technical assistance to the PRC government, ADB helped revitalize the legislative process for the competition law and supported the development of the legal framework for the law. With the adoption of the competition law, ADB’s assistance then focused on strengthening the capacity of relevant government agencies to implement it effectively. Through this publication, ADB hopes to contribute further to the understanding of antimonopoly practices in the financial sector of the PRC and their implications for the economy.

Robert Wihtol Director General East Asia Department Asian Development Bank