Competition law models fit for transplantation? The US, EU, and China

Abstract

The development of competition law globally has been significantly influenced by US antitrust law and EU competition law. They have shaped the development of national competition laws of other jurisdictions as well as dominated discussions at the international level and the formulation of international competition law norms. In recent years, however, China’s anti-monopoly law has taken on increasing global importance, leading to questions about whether China poses any challenge to the dominance of US and EU competition laws and to international norms.

The dominance of US and EU competition laws has been in part due to their promotion as model laws for other countries to adopt and their acceptance as such. In this paper, we argue that, for China’s competition law to seriously challenge the dominance of US and EU competition laws and international norms, it too will need to be regarded as a distinct model of competition law that could be workably transplantable to and adopted by other countries. We consider the fundamental question of what constitutes a “competition law model” and examine the extent to which US antitrust law, EU competition law, and Chinese anti-monopoly law are distinct competition law models that are suited for transplantation to other jurisdictions.

About the presenters

Mark Furse

Mark Furse is Professor of Competition Law and Policy at the School of Law, the University of Glasgow and an external Fellow of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law at the TC Beirne School of Law. He has been teaching and researching in competition law for over 30 years, and has written extensively about competition law. Starting with a focus on UK and EU competition law, his early research took him into US antitrust law, and since 2005 he has engaged strongly with Chinese and East Asian competition law, as well as patterns of development of the law and its adoption by new regimes, or adaptation in young regimes. He wrote one of the first books in English on the Chinese AML, and continues to focus on merger control in China in particular. Mark has also worked extensively with capacity building and professional training programmes in Europe and beyond, and holds honorary professorial positions at the South West University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, and the East China University of Political Science and Law in Shanghai. 

Wendy Ng

Dr Wendy Ng is a Senior Lecturer at Melbourne Law School, where she is the Associate Director (China) of the Asian Law Centre and Deputy Director of the Competition Law and Economics Network. Wendy researches on competition law, focusing on China, international and comparative law, and political economy issues. Her book, ‘The Political Economy of Competition Law in China’, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2018. Prior to joining Melbourne Law School, Wendy worked as a lawyer at leading commercial law firms in Melbourne and New York and as a lecturer at the University of Adelaide. She has also worked with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and other development partners to support the introduction and development of competition law and policy in Southeast Asia.