On November 4, 2017, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress adopted a revision to the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China (the “Revised Law”). The Revised Law substantially revises the currently effective Anti-Competition Law of the People’s Republic of China (the “Current Law”) which was enacted in 1993. In response to the tremendous changes in business models in the market over the past 24 years following the implementation of the Current Law, apart from redefining and regulating unfair competition behaviors provided under the Current Law, such as misleading conduct, false statements in advertising and the infringement of trade secrets, the Revised Law also introduces provisions to regulate unfair competition behaviors conducted via the Internet and by technical means in order to adapt to the growing Internet economy. The Revised Law will come into effect on January 1, 2018.
One of the most significant changes in the Revised Law is the substantial changes made to the commercial bribery provisions found under Article 8 of the Current Law (Article 7 of the Revised Law). The scope of commercial bribery under the Revised Law will no longer be limited to “for the purpose of distributing or purchasing commodities,” and has been expanded to include “for the purpose of seeking transaction opportunities or competitive advantage.” Meanwhile, the Revised Law also redefines the targets, content and penalties regarding commercial bribery. Below is a comparison of the commercial bribery provisions found in the Current Law and the Revised Law (the red color represents content that has been revised or eliminated)
