Ｆｏｒｅｉｇｎ Ｍｏｎｅｙ ｔｏ Ｓｅｅ Ｗｉｄｅｒ Ｍａｒｋｅｔ Ａｃｃｅｓｓ

Foreign investors are expectedto be granted wider access tothe Chinese market once thelong-awaited anti-monopoly law， atthe draft stage since 1994， is enacted，experts have said.

Tong Jiadong， a professor of eco-nomics at Nankai University inTianjin， said the law provisions willbreak monopolies in such industriesas telecommunications and electricalpower supply.

\"The anti-monopoly law is abso-lutely good news， both to Chinese andforeign businesses，\" Tong said in aninterview with China Daily.

\"Foreign enterprises have reasonto be optimistic because they will gainmore access to a unified and orderlyChinese market and have more oppor-tunity to expand their business.\"

The exact content of the law，listed in this year's legislation plan ofthe Standing Committee of the Na-tional People's Congress， has not beenmade public.

But Tong said the law would actagainst multinationals conducting mo-nopolistic practices in China.

\"It should be made very clear thatthe law does not prohibit dominantmarket position itself but does prohibitabuse of such a position，\" said ShengJiemin， dean of Peking University'sInstitute of Economic Law.

\"We will not simply limit merg-ers and acquisitions， which are a goodway of optimizing resources， we willcreate a report system in which anymergers or acquisitions that meet cer-tain criteria should be reported forapproval.\"

The criteria will betransparent， meaning enterpriseswill be held fully responsible fortheir business activities， Shengsaid.

He also revealed that the StateCouncil will probably set up anindependent and professionalagency， such as an anti-monopolyauthority， to enforce the law.

Li Dongsheng， vice-minister ofthe State Administration for Industryand Commerce (SAIC)， told a recentsymposium on competition policy andlegislation that the law will result in aunified， open， competitive and orderlymarket mechanism by prohibiting in-dustrial monopolies and regionalblockades.

At the same meeting， ToruShibuichi， director of the Asian De-velopment Bank Resident Mission inChina， said China's monopolisticpractices have three forms: State-owned enterprise monopolies createdthrough links to administrativeauthorities， monopolies created bylocal governments to protect regionalmarkets， and commercial monopoliescreated through various unfair busi-ness activities.

\"The current laws and regulationsare inadequate for addressing theproblem of monopolies， and there isan apparent need for new laws，\"Shibuichi said.

China enacted the Anti-UnfairCompetition Law in 1993 as the firststep in regulating unfair competition.Other anti-monopoly provisions arecovered in the Trademark Law， theAdvertising Law and the Price Law.

According to SAIC statistics，more than 5，200 cases of monopolis-tic conduct were settled nationwidebetween 1999 and 2004， involvingmonopolies covering fields such aselectric utilities， telecommunications，insurance， railways， postal services，petroleum and tobacco.