CHINA: An Introduction to Competition/Antitrust (International Firms)

Competition/Antitrust in China (International firms) – focusing on merger filings of inbound and outbound deals

跨境交易并购审查概要  

Overview  

概述 

The year 2022 marked the pinnacle of the reform of China’s Anti-monopoly Law ("AML"). Amendments to the AML ("the Amended AML") were formally adopted, and the State Administration for Market Regulation ("SAMR") and the Supreme People’s Court released draft revisions to various antitrust rules in tandem. These changes or proposed changes cover almost the full spectrum of antitrust issues. In early 2023, the central government released the signal that SAMR will continue to ramp up antitrust enforcement in China, with a focus to improve business environment and boost confidence in economic development.

2022年是中国反垄断法改革的高峰期。《中华人民共和国反垄断法（2022修订）》（“修订后的《反垄断法》”）于2022年正式实施，国家市场监督管理总局（“市场监管总局”）和最高人民法院也相继发布了多项针对现行反垄断规则的配套法规的修订草案，涉及各方面的反垄断问题。2023年初，中央政府称市场监管总局将进一步强化中国反垄断执法，大力促进优化营商环境，提振经济发展信心。

Notably, on the merger side, the Amended AML sets out major changes to the procedural and substantive merger control rules, and SAMR is contemplating revision of the Chinese merger control filing thresholds. With the increased uncertainty on the China merger review process, more than ever it is mission-critical to plan early on antitrust filing in China for complex cross-border M&A transactions.

值得注意的是，在并购审查方面，修订后的《反垄断法》对经营者集中相关的程序性和实质性规则进行了重大修改。此外，市场监管总局正在酝酿修改中国的经营者集中申报标准。随着中国经营者集中审查程序的不确定性的日益增加，对于复杂的跨境并购交易而言，尽早就中国经营者集中申报相关事宜作好规划比以往任何时候都更为重要。

From a global perspective, there is a trend that antitrust authorities are increasing scrutiny on M&A, especially deals involving tech companies and private equity buyers. Foreign direct investment ("FDI") review (or national security review) has continued to be a critical piece of the regulatory jigsaw for M&A deals. As a result of the worsening macro-economic environment and increasing political instability, many jurisdictions have expanded the scope of their existing FDI screening regimes in recent years and demonstrated an increasingly hostile stance against Chinese outbound investments.

放眼全球，各国反垄断执法机构也在不断加强对并购交易的审查，尤其是针对涉及科技公司的交易和私募股权投资。同时，外商投资审查（或国家安全审查）仍然是并购交易监管架构中关键的一环。由于宏观经济环境的恶化和政治环境的波动，诸多司法辖区近年来扩大了其外商投资审查制度的范围，并进一步收紧了针对中国企业对外投资的监管。

We highlight below the major development of the Chinese merger control regime and the recent trend of global antitrust and FDI screening mechanism in the context of Chinese investors. We also briefly introduce the new EU foreign subsidies regulation that would have significant impact on Chinese companies' future investments in the EU.

我们在下文中概述了中国经营者集中制度的主要进展，以及在中国投资者语境下的全球反垄断和外商投资审查机制的最新趋势。此外，我们还将简要介绍即将对中国企业未来在欧盟投资产生重大影响的欧盟外国政府补贴新规。

1. Merger control in China  

中国的经营者集中审查 

The Amended AML sets out major changes to the procedural and substantive merger control rules including introduction of the stop-the-clock mechanism, power to call in below-threshold transactions, and harsher penalties on failure-to-file and gun-jumping.

修订后的《反垄断法》对经营者集中相关的程序性和实质性规则进行了重大修改，包括引入了“停表”机制和对未达到申报标准的交易的审查权，并提高了对未依法申报和“抢跑”行为的处罚力度。

In addition, the Amended AML provides that SAMR shall set up a classification system for its merger reviews and strengthen its focus of review on concentrations in important sectors that concern national strategies and people’s living, to improve the quality and efficiency of merger review. As the first step in establishing a classification system, SAMR launched a pilot programme detailing the delegation of part of its merger review work to relevant Administration for Market Regulation at the local provincial level.

此外，修订后的《反垄断法》规定，市场监管总局应健全经营者集中分类分级审查制度，依法加强对涉及国计民生等重要领域的经营者集中的审查，提高审查质量和效率。作为建立分类分级审查制度的第一步，市场监管总局已经启动了一项试点计划，设立了将部分经营者集中审查工作委托给相关省级市场监督管理部门的工作机制。

SAMR also proposed to revise the Chinese merger control filing thresholds through raising the existing filing thresholds and introducing a new threshold that is designed to catch killer acquisitions by sizable Chinese companies. As of February 2023, the proposed revision is still being widely debated, and it remains to be seen whether the new test will be adopted.

市场监管总局还拟议修改中国经营者集中的申报标准：提高现有的营业额申报标准，并引入一套新的申报标准，从而可以审查大型中国公司的“猎杀式并购”。截至2023年2月，新申报标准的修订仍在广泛讨论中，新申报标准最终能否被采纳还有待观察。

In 2022, the number of merger notifications has continued to increase, but there is a decrease from 2021 in terms of published gun-jumping penalty decisions. Notably, there have not been any gun-jumping penalty decisions published since the adoption of the Amended AML, and it remains to be seen whether SAMR may apply the new penalty rules retroactively to gun-jumping transactions notified or investigated before the Amended AML took effect.

2022年，中国经营者集中申报的数量持续上升，但已公布的“抢跑”行为处罚决定相比2021年在数量上有所减少。值得注意的是，自修订后的《反垄断法》实施以来，市场监管总局尚未公布任何针对“抢跑”行为的处罚决定，市场监管总局是否会对在修订后的《反垄断法》生效前申报或被立案调查的“抢跑”交易溯及适用新的处罚规则，也仍有待观察。

2. Global antitrust and FDI hurdles to outbound M&A

全球反垄断和外商投资审查对中国企业境外并购的影响 

(1) Merger Control

合并控制 （反垄断）审查

Antitrust authorities around the world are ramping up their scrutiny on mergers, evidenced by increasing antitrust enforcement, aggressive policy shift, and enhancement of established merger control regulations.

总体而言，世界各地的反垄断机构普遍有收紧对企业并购审查的趋势，具体表现包括日益加大反垄断执法力度、积极推进政策转型和加强现有的并购控制法规。

In a policy statement released by the Federal Trade Commission of the United States ("FTC"), the FTC indicates that it can use Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act to pursue a series of mergers, acquisitions, or joint ventures "that tend to bring about the harms that the antitrust laws were designed to prevent," even if individually the transactions have not violated the antitrust laws. The FTC can review these transactions even if the respondents have not gained full-fledged monopoly or market power or led to a significant increase in market concentration. While the policy statement is FTC specific, it aligns with the US antitrust agencies' shared scepticism of the effect that the business model of private equity is having on competition.

美国联邦贸易委员会（“FTC”）在一份政策声明中表示，FTC有权根据《联邦贸易委员会法》（Federal Trade Commission Act）第5条对一系列“有可能带来反垄断法旨在防止的危害”的合并、收购或合资企业交易进行监管，即使这些交易单独而言可能并未违反反垄断法。即使被调查的交易相关方未通过此等交易获得完全的垄断或市场力量，或导致市场集中度的显著提高，FTC也可以对这些交易进行审查。尽管该政策声明是FTC作出的，但其也反映了美国其他反垄断机构对私募股权商业模式可能损害竞争的共同担忧。

In the EU, the European Commission has reportedly reviewed several transactions that below the EU merger threshold following its landmark prohibition of the acquisition of GRAIL by Illumina (a transaction where the target healthcare company had not generated any EU-wide turnover yet) in September 2022. Moreover, the EC issued two prohibition decisions in 2022, compared to none in 2021 and 2020.

在欧盟，自2022年9月欧盟委员会禁止Illumina公司收购GRAIL公司（一家尚未在欧盟范围内产生任何营业额的医疗公司）以来，欧盟委员会据称已经审查了数项项低于欧盟并购申报标准的交易。此外，欧盟委员会在2022年发布了两项禁止决定，而其在2021年和2020年均未发布任何禁止决定。

While the UK adopts a voluntary filing regime, more cases entered into in-depth Phase 2 investigation in 2022. Among the nine Phase 2 cases, only two cases were cleared without conditions.

尽管英国的并购审查制度采取自愿申报模式，但2022年有更多的案件受到了第二阶段深入调查。在9个进入第二阶段的案件中，只有2个案件被无条件批准。

There are also jurisdictions that recently promulgated or are promulgating reform of merger control regime. For example, the amendments to the Egyptian Competition Law came into effect on 30 December 2022, which introduced a new suspensory pre-closing filing regime. The Egyptian post-closing filing regime has now been consigned to history. Malaysia is also contemplating a switch from its existing sector specific merger filing regime (applicable to the aviation and media sectors only) to a cross-sector, mandatory and suspensory merger filing regime.

此外，还有一些司法辖区最近已完成或正在进行并购审查制度的改革。例如，埃及竞争法修正案已于2022年12月30日生效，该修正案引入了附有中止交易义务的交割前申报制度，埃及此前施行的交割后申报制度自此成为历史。马来西亚也正在酝酿建立跨行业、强制性且附有中止交易义务的事前并购申报制度，以取代其现有的针对特定行业的并购申报制度（仅适用于航空和媒体行业）。

(2) FDI and National Security Review

外商投资与国家安全审查

Despite the fact that FDI flows have started to surge back to above pre-pandemic levels, development in FDI screening demonstrated a continuing trend towards greater protectionism and stricter enforcement, especially against Chinese investors.

尽管外商投资活动已逐渐恢复到疫情前水平之上，但外商投资审查依旧呈现出保护主义抬头和审查趋严的态势，特别是针对中国投资者而言。

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States ("CFIUS") scrutinizes Chinese investment far more than any other country, In September 2022, President Biden issued an executive order emphasizing scrutiny over (i) transactions involving a sector identified as “fundamental” to the US technological leadership, including microelectronics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and biomanufacturing, quantum computing, advanced clean energy and climate adaptation technologies and (ii) transactions that will afford the foreign investor access to large sets of sensitive data. There have already been a number of recent cases where the Chinese investors abandoned or amended their deals out of CFIUS concerns.

美国外国投资委员会（“CFIUS”）审查的中国投资数量远超其他任何国家。2022年9月，美国总统拜登发布了一项行政命令，旨在加强审查（a）涉及被认定为对美国的技术领先地位“至关重要”的领域的交易，包括微电子、人工智能、生物技术和生物制造、量子计算、高新清洁能源和气候适应技术；（b）将使外国投资者获得大量敏感数据的交易。近年来，中国投资者出于对CFIUS审查的担忧而放弃交易或变更交易条款条件的案例屡见不鲜。

In the first 12 months of the UK's new national security and investment ("NSI") regime, 14 transactions have been subject to final orders, including 5 prohibitions, 9 conditional clearances and 8 deals with a connection to China. It is notable that 3 out of 5 prohibited transactions concerned investments in the semiconductor industry, and all 3 of these transactions involved investors connected to China.

在英国新的国家安全和投资审查制度生效后的12个月内，有关监管机构已发布了14项最终命令。其中5项为禁止交易的决定，9项为附条件批准决定，共涉及8起与中国相关的交易。值得注意的是，5项被禁止的交易中有3项涉及半导体行业的投资，而这3项交易均涉及与中国有关联的投资者。

In the EU, Germany blocked two semiconductor transactions involving Chinese investors in 2022. Italy also invalidated an acquisition by a Chinese investor of majority shares in a military drone company in early 2022, which was its fourth block of proposed investments in sensitive areas by a Chinese investor in the last two years. There are more FDI review regimes on the horizon, including Belgium, Ireland, Estonia, and Sweden. The Netherlands is also contemplating enhancing its authority over transactions involving sensitive technology and energy.

在欧盟，德国在2022年内禁止了两项涉及中国投资者的半导体领域的并购交易。意大利也在2022年初宣布一家中国投资者对一家意大利军用无人机公司多数股份的收购无效，这是意大利在过去两年内第4次阻止中国投资者在敏感领域的投资。此外，诸多��家也即将出台外商投资审查制度，包括比利时、爱尔兰、爱沙尼亚和瑞典。荷兰也在考虑加强其审查涉及敏感技术和能源交易的权力。

(3) EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation

欧盟外国政府补贴条例

On 10 November 2022, the European Parliament adopted the Regulation on Foreign Subsidies Distorting the Internal Market, enabling the European Commission to take measures against market-distorting subsidies from non-EU countries. The European Commission would be empowered to review filings for takeovers of EU companies or public procurement bids meeting relevant thresholds when they are supported by subsidies from third countries. The European Commission can also intervene in transactions or tenders below filing thresholds on its own initiative.

2022年11月10日，欧洲议会通过了关于扭曲内部市场的外国政府补贴的条例，使欧盟委员会能够对扭曲市场的非欧盟外国政府补贴采取措施。若收购欧盟公司的交易或公共采购投标是由第三国政府补贴支持且达到相关申报门槛，则需要申报至欧委会进行反补贴审查。欧盟委员会也可以主动干预低于申报门槛的交易或投标。

Notably, the regulation creates new requirement to notify transactions where the turnover of the EU target exceeds EUR 500 million and where the undertakings concerned have received financial contributions of EUR 50 million or more from third countries in the preceding three financial years. Moreover, bidders in EU tenders for contracts worth EUR 250 million or more that have received financial contributions of EUR 4 million or more from third countries must provide information on foreign subsidies to the relevant contracting authority, which must in turn inform the European Commission.

值得注意的是，该条例设立了新的申报要求，若目标欧盟公司的营业额超过5亿欧元，且有关经营者在过去三个财年间从第三国收到的财政资助等于或超过 5,000万欧元，则需要申报该交易。此外，若参与涉及价值等于或超过 2.5亿欧元合同的欧盟招标的竞标者从第三国收到 400 万欧元或以上的财政资助，则该竞标者必须向作为合同方的相关公共机构提供有关外国政府补贴的信息，后者必须将信息转呈欧委会。

Understanding the global trends at play, it is critical for Chinese investors to navigate the fluid regulatory environment for outbound investments.

在当前的全球监管趋势下，掌握不断变化的对外投资监管环境对于中国投资者至关重要。