China moves to tackle unfair competition in cyberspace with legal revision

China's top legislature is moving to revise its anti-unfair competition law to better address new forms of online misconduct and protect market order, a senior official said on Monday.

Huang Haihua, spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said the fast-evolving nature of internet technologies and business models in recent years has led to a steady rise in disputes over unfair competition in cyberspace.

To address emerging issues, lawmakers have analyzed relevant legal cases and updated provisions in the Law against Unfair Competition, Huang said at a news conference.

The draft amendment will be reviewed during a session of the NPC Standing Committee scheduled from Tuesday to Friday in Beijing.

According to Huang, the latest draft specifies criteria for identifying unfair practices, including violations of data rights and bad-faith transactions. It also targets conduct by large enterprises that abuse their relatively dominant market position — such as delaying payments to smaller businesses.

The revision also proposes establishing a fair competition review system, with measures to curb harmful rivalry between online platforms, Huang added.