China: Adopted Amendment to Anti-Monopoly Law

On 24 June 2022, China's National People's Congress adopted the Amendment to the Anti-Monopoly Law. The press release does not provide a policy text. The amended Anti-Monopoly Law provides, among other things, that companies shall not limit competition by abusing platform rules, data, algorithms and technology in general. The amended Law also raises the fine amount a company can be sanctioned with for significant anti-competitive acts, with fines of up to 10% of a company's revenue from the previous year possible for breaches of the Law. Further, for particularly serious violations with a particularly heavy impact and especially serious consequences, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) could multiply the amount of any fine with a factor between 2 and 5. Finally, public prosecutors could bring civil public lawsuits up against conduct that violated social and public interests.