Top court issues new anti-monopoly judicial interpretation

A new judicial interpretation on civil litigation against monopolies was issued by China's top court on Monday in order to help the country maintain market order and promote high-quality development.

Compared with the old version, which was released in 2012, the new piece has added 37 provisions, focusing more on challenges in the new era, such as difficulties in evidence collection, compensation for victims and low-cost marketing in the fields of digital economy and information technology.

While specifying what cases can be defined as monopoly-related civil litigation and how to initiate such lawsuits, the latest document also detailed which behavior constitutes an abuse of market dominance.

Tao Kaiyuan, vice-president of the Supreme People's Court, stressed the importance of anti-monopoly, noting that it is an inherent requirement of market economy.

"Strengthening efforts to curb monopolies is conducive to maintaining fair competition order and achieving high-quality growth," she said.

She pointed out that civil litigation against monopolies is a major channel for the implementation of the revised Anti-Monopoly Law, which took effect on Aug 1, 2022, adding "it's also a crucial jurisdiction of courts."

Data released by the top court showed on Monday that from 2013 to 2023, Chinese courts concluded 977 civil lawsuits against monopolies, with 28 influential ones having been uploaded in an online case archive.

The archive platform, which was established by the top court and opened in late February, aims to help the public learn what laws were applied and why courts arrived at their rulings. All cases should be reviewed and deemed to have reference value by the top court before being put online.

On Monday, the top court also disclosed details of five concluded anti-monopoly civil lawsuits, aiming to ensure judges can correctly apply the amended law and accurately understand the latest judicial interpretation.

The new judicial interpretation will take effective on July 1.