China’s MOFCOM Issues Interim Rules on the Assessment of the Impact of Concentrations on Competition

On September 5, 2011, China’s “Interim Rules on the Assessment of the Impact of Concentrations on Competition” (the “Assessment Rules”) took effect. The rules provide the first guidance from the Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) regarding its substantive assessment of transactions under the Anti-Monopoly Law (the “AML”). The AML lists five factors MOFCOM should consider when analyzing transactions; the Assessment Rules expand on each of these factors. Given the lack of transparency surrounding MOFCOM’s merger control process and the short, conclusory nature of the few available merger control precedents, practitioners have been looking forward to the release of the Assessment Rules. The Assessment Rules are short and vague, however, and they leave many questions unanswered.