China’s MOFCOM Issues Provisional Rules on Divestiture Remedies

On July 5, 2010, China’s Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) published Provisional Rules on Divestitures of Assets or Businesses to Implement Concentrations between Undertakings (the “Divestiture Rules”) with immediate effect. The Divestiture Rules are the first rules specifically regulating divestiture remedies under the Chinese Anti-Monopoly Law. The Divestiture Rules appear to be modeled on the EU Commission’s approach to merger remedies. Consistent with other MOFCOM rules and regulations, however, the Divestiture Rules are quite general and thus provide MOFCOM with more discretion than the Commission’s rules. The Divestiture Rules do not address the procedure for submitting remedies, but this topic is addressed in MOFCOM’s Rules on the Examination of Concentrations between Undertakings published on November 27, 2009.