China officially launches anti-monopoly bureau in Beijing on Thursday. Photo:Li Hao/GT

China’s anti-monopoly bureau was officially launched on Thursday, located in the same building of the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR), the country’s top market regulator, in Xicheng district, Beijing. 

Gan Lin was appointed as the head of the new bureau on Monday by China’s State Council, the cabinet. Analysts believed that the appointment represented that Chinese government’s action aimed to further crackdown on market monopolies which stifle free competition. 

Before 2018, China’s anti-monopoly regulations were led by the State Council and conducted by three departments under Ministry of Commerce, National Development and Reform Commission and former State Administration for Industry and Commerce, respectively, which generated issues of different supervision standards. 

Following the reform of the State Council in 2018, China’s anti-monopoly supervision was integrated to the anti-monopoly department under SAMR. 

The establishment of the anti-monopoly bureau represented China’s optimizing of anti-monopoly mechanisms. The bureau will create a fair, transparent and predictable competitive landscape for over 150 million Chinese market participants, Xinhua News Agency reported on Thursday.

Global Times