China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has urged stronger law enforcement to tackle unfair competition and related problems like dubious practices and unethical market behavior in the digital economy, in order to better protect brands and other forms of intellectual property. At the first Anti-unfair Competition Forum in Beijing on June 9, the SAMR released the Anti-unfair Competition Law Enforcement Report of 2020. The report features the top 10 cases against unfair competition. In 2020, various departments of the SAMR have investigated and handled 7,371 cases of unfair competition, and imposed fines and confiscated goods, equipment or property worth a total of CNY416 million. In the first five months of the year, investigations into 1,345 anti-unfair competition cases resulted in fines and confiscations valued at CNY122 million. Gan Lin, Deputy Director of SAMR, said during the forum that “China still faces many challenges in the context of fair competition: lack of deep awareness of fair competition, a legal system that still needs to be perfected and a regulatory philosophy that needs to be updated.”
“The forum and the report really demonstrate China’s efforts and willingness to create an innovation-driven investment environment, where everyone can enjoy innovations and support cross-border investments,” Supachai Junkeiat, Country Director of TCP Group, a Thailand-based food and beverage company that owns the Red Bull beverage brand, said at the forum. TCP announced last year plans to invest more than CNY1 billion to expand its beverage operations in the country over the next three years. “I think this drive against unfair market competition is good news for everyone. We feel well protected and have more confidence to bring innovative energy drink products into the market,” he said, as reported by the China Daily.
