China: Issued ruling in State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) investigation of CNKI

On 26 December 2022 the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued a ruling in the context of its investigation into China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), a private publishing company focused on academic literature. The ruling establishes that the company has abused its dominant position in the Chinese market, carrying out monopolistic behaviour by selling products at unfairly high and constantly growing prices, hiding price increments through product fragmentation, and restricting academic publishing through exclusive cooperation agreements. The SAMR, in accordance with the "Anti-Monopoly Law", imposed a fine of 5% of CNKI's 2021 sales, which equals RMB 87.6 million, and ordered the company to cease all illegal practices.