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 The American Chamber of Commerce in China is the latest business
lobby to air its grievances over a series of investigations
scrutinizing at least 30 foreign firms, as China seeks to enforce a
2008 anti-monopoly law.
There are growing perceptions that multinational firms are under
"selective and subjective enforcement" using "legal and extra-legal
approaches", the Chamber said in a report.
A survey of 164 members showed 49 percent of respondents felt
foreign companies were being singled out in recent pricing and
anti-corruption campaigns, compared to 40 percent in a late 2013
survey of 365 members. Twenty-five percent said they were uncertain,
or did not know, and 26 percent said no.
Chamber Vice Chairman Lester Ross told reporters the major expansion
of enforcement was welcome in principle, but regulators were using
"extra-legal" means to conduct investigations.
"They have taken what are, in many instances, vague or unspecified
provisions in the law and moved to enforce them, and sought to
enforce those means through processes that do not respect the notion
of due process or fairness," Ross said.
Sixty percent of respondents in the survey also reported they felt
foreign business was becoming less welcome in China.
"TRANSPARENT AND JUST"
In an April letter to Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury
Secretary Jacob Lew, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged Washington
to get tough with Beijing on its use of anti-competition rules,
which it said had been seized by China to advance industrial
policies that nurture domestic companies.
The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China in August expressed
its concern over the antitrust investigations, saying China was
using strong-arm tactics and appeared to be unfairly targeting
foreign firms.
Xu Kunlin, director general of price supervision and the
anti-monopoly bureau at the National Development Reform Commission
(NDRC), reiterated that local and foreign companies were being
treated equally by the agency.
"Such accusations are groundless and baseless," Xu told the official
China Daily newspaper.
"Some of the NDRC monopoly investigations involve overseas
multinationals, but that does not mean that we are targeting them,"
Xu said in an interview with the paper.
"Some business operators in China have failed to adjust their
practices in accordance with the anti-monopoly law," he added.
"Others have a clear understanding of the laws, but they take the
chance that they may escape punishment."
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Xu said the NDRC, one of China's three antitrust regulators, was
also handling cases involving state-owned firms and Chinese private
sector companies.
The automotive industry has been in focus for the last two or three
years, Xu said. Last month, the NDRC slapped a record fine of $201
million on 12 Japanese automakers it said had engaged in price
manipulation.
The NDRC is investigating Qualcomm's local subsidiary after it said
in February that the company was suspected of overcharging and
abusing its market position in wireless communication standards,
accusations that could lead to record fines of more than $1 billion.
Another antitrust regulator, the State Administration for Industry
and Commerce, said on Monday it had given Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> 20
days to reply to queries on the compatibility of its Windows
operating system and Office software suite amid its probe into the
world's largest software company.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang responded to a question
on the chamber's paper at a regular press briefing, saying he hoped
foreign companies "will abide by Chinese law".
"Anti-monopoly is to protect consumers' rights and to create a more
open, fair and impartial market environment," Qin said. "It is
transparent and just."
(Reporting by Michael Martina and Brenda Goh and Sui-Lee Wee;
Editing by Kazunori Takada, Clarence Fernandez and Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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