Supreme People's Court of China issues Anti-Monopoly Judicial Interpretation

Recently, the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Dispute Cases Involving Monopoly ("the Judicial Interpretation") was issued. The Judicial Interpretation was formulated on the basis of the Anti-Monopoly Law of China amended in 2022 and by absorbing and merging the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Civil Dispute Cases Arising from Monopolistic Behaviour promulgated in 2012 (the Provisions). The Judicial Interpretation will come into force on 1 July 2024, and upon that date the Provisions will be annulled.

The Judicial Interpretation consists of 51 articles in six sections. Major contents of the Judicial Interpretation include: procedural matters, covering means of instituting a suit, consolidated trial, establishment of evidence, public interest litigation, and suspension of litigation; "relevant markets", its definition, and burden of proof and consideration factors for determination thereof; monopoly agreements, covering concerted action, pharmaceutical reverse payment agreements, algorithmic contracts, platform most-favored-nation clause in horizontal monopoly agreements, and burden of proof, identification of anti-competitive effects and exceptions, organising and aiding behaviours, and exemptions for monopoly agreement in vertical monopoly agreements; definition of "dominant market position" and behaviours constituting abuse thereof; civil liability, determination of damages, and statute of limitations.

According to data released by the SPC, from 2013 to 2023, the Chinese courts concluded 977 first-instance civil monopoly cases, and the Intellectual Property Court of the SPC accepted 178 and concluded 131 monopoly civil cases from its establishment in January 2019 to the end of May 2024.