Anti-monopoly law in pipeline

China’s long awaited anti-monopoly law is expected to be passed next week, requiring foreign companies to go through both anti-monopoly and national security checks when merging with or taking over Chinese enterprises. “As well as anti-monopoly checks stipulated by this law, foreign mergers and acquisitions of domestic companies or foreign capital investmentsin domestic companies’ operations in other forms should go through national security checks according to relevant laws and regulations,” the latest version of the draft said. The adjustment was to make the regulation clearer, Jiang Qiangui, deputy director of the Law Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) told the ongoing session of the NPC Standing Committee. The previous version only said foreign investors’ mergers and acquisitions of domestic companies should go through national security checks. She said the draft law was “ready for adoption. (August 25, 2007)